Of Caballeros and Keybearers
by MissEccentricWriter
Summary: Before leaving on his journey after failing the Mark of Mastery Exam, Sora is sent with Donald and Goofy to a lost sleeping world. Along the way they meet Panchito Pistoles and Jose Carioca who with Donald make the Three Caballeros. But even with their help, can Sora regain his complete courage from his Exam failure to help save this world, or drown in his inner darkness?
1. Sleeping Worlds

_**Author's Notes at the end!**_

The last thing he remembered was going to bed in the tower. Yen Sid had given him a room in the tower's many wings, all of which were magically opened by a single wave of the old wizard's hand. Sora would have left right after Riku's congratulating, but going through all those sleeping worlds and having an inner struggle was tiring and was more of an exhausting nightmare. So once in his room, the young man stripped into a tank and boxers, snuggled under the covers and fell fast asleep.

But now that he was awake, the brunette was positive he was not in the tower. For one, he was not laying in his soft bed, but on the ground against an apple tree; secondly, there was a town in front of him with people looking at him strangely. Looking down, Sora found himself still in his pajamas and quickly pulled his legs up in modesty.

Either this was a nightmare- like he had just been through- or he was under a spell- which seemed most reasonable since he was after all in a magical tower owned by a master wizard. He then scooted his bottom around to the other side of the trunk to face open plains of sand,cacti and a few shabby buildings.

"Hey! Whut's the big idea?!" cried a voice from beside him. Apparently Sora had bumped harshly into another body sleeping against the tree. Looking down to the other, the young man recognized the billed face of Donald Duck, his old time companion.

" Donald? What are you doing in my dream?... Or under the same spell?" Sora leaned forward between his knees. The duck raised an imaginary eyebrow and looked around. Apparently he was just as lost as the brunette was.

" I...This...This isn't my room..." Suddenly Donald looked down at his body to his pajamas of a buttoned-up shirt and nightcap and yelped in embarrassment.

Sora chortled at this reaction, though envied the magician for wearing such modest nightwear. Suddenly there was loud snoring just on the other side of the trunk, and a black, floppy, ear was noticeable.

" Goofy?" The keybearer then leaned forward on one knee and looked around the tree. There sat Goofy Goof sleeping against the truck as Donald and Sora were not too long ago. Donald twisted his body to see as well and sighed; Goofy could sleep anywhere.

" What is going on here!?" Sora finally had had enough of all this confusing. He got onto his feet and was met with a chuckled from Donald.

" Nice PJs." was the sneer Sora was expecting to come; the young man laughed sarcastically before trying to pull the hem of his tank down over his underwear. Looking around he noticed the town was quite 'Old-Timely', sorta like an old western.

" Man, is it hot!" The duck then got up and dusted his shirt. Sora had to agree, sweat was beading down his neck already.

" Wait...I think we're in Mexico...Goofy, get up!" Donald then gave the warrior a shove with his foot, knocking and waking him up.

"Wha'?!" Goofy looked around frantically before setting his eyes on Donald and Sora, chuckling at the flustered boy in pajamas.  
"...Boy, it sure is hot!" the dog then fanned his face with a hand.

"No, duh! I think we're in Mexico Goofy."

"No, we're in the Mysterious Tower, aren't?"

The duck slapped his palm into his face, aggravated by his friend's stupid comment. "Does this look like your bedroom, Goof?" he then spread his arms out wide to empathize his point

Goofy looked around for moment and narrowed his eyes. "Its not!...Hey, I think we are in Mexico!" the warrior caught on now. "But why? Did Yen Sid send us?"

" Don't know...But I need some clothes." Sora butted in, still keeping his shirt down.

The royal magician and knight looked to their friend, trying to keep their snickers to themselves, and nodded. Before they could plan anything though, a voice ran their minds, causing the three to look up to the blue sky.

" _You are awake, good. It is I, Yen Sid."_the deep tone of their magical master rang through. It seemed only they could hear since a few glances around and the trio saw no one else was freaking out, but glancing oddly at them and their cloths.

"Um...Master Yen S-"

"_Speak with your mind Sora, I have linked us four privately." _

" _Master, why have you sent us to Mexico?!" _Donald used his mind to talk, his body gestures enforcing his mental words.

" _Yes, you three are Mexico. I have sent you here because this is another world deep in sleep and you must wake it up"_

"_Uh, why not send Riku an' Sora instead, before their Exam were over?" _Goofy then telepathically asked, quite relaxed against the tree was no reason getting all worked up since it was their master's doing; Yen Sid was all knowing, he wouldn't put them through harm's way without belief they could win. But this did seem a bit out of nowhere.

" _This world was unknown to me, we all make mistakes now and then, and before I could send Sora and RIku, it was too late. Xehanort had come and started his chaos. So I invited Sora to stay before he left so to go on this little quest; a trick-way, I know, but if I had come forward to the boy with my intentions out in the open he would have declined."_

Sora looked down to his bare toes, wiggling them in the dirt with an uncomfortable face; so his master knew his little predicament? Of course, it was only a matter of time- short time really. Looking up slightly, the young man could see his companions looking at him with confused and concerned eyes, causing more embarrassment on him shoulders.

" _Its nothing guys, I would just wanna have gotten on my journey quickly! Ya' Know? I gotta become a Keyblade Master soon, before the battle begins." _ he mentally explained what the master meant- or what he wanted them to know. He couldn't tell his battle buddies why he would have not accepted awakening another world. He was too embarrassed.

" _Then why send me an' Goofy with him an' not Riku?" _Donald took his gaze away from Sora, deciding the boy was fine for now, and looked back up to the sky as if it was Yen Sid himself. It seemed logical since Sora and Riku awakened the worlds not a few hours ago that they do another one quickly.

" _Because Riku needs to rest, he was fighting quite hard mentally and physically against his left over darkness and finally taming it; plus, I know you would want to be the one to waken this world, Donald. You're not just in Mexico, you are in the Toon Universe and you will not only be here, but a few other places as well, which Goofy is familiar with as well."_

The duck's bill dropped in shock and he looked around a bit more Incredulously; were they really where he thought they were?

" _We're close to home? Do you mean, I could take a plane and be at MY house?" _Donald then shoved a thumb behind him and the tree.

" _Toontown is close?" _Sora then tilted his head, wasn't that world a single place with the Castle?

"_No, Sora! That was just a small part of our universe! Theres a world where we all live more casually, with towns and cities. I live in a place called Duckberg" _The magician then elucidated.

"_Duckberg? Is it full of ducks?" _Sora then tried to understand better with questions, which just made Donald mad.

" _No, theres other birds as well; theres also Mousetown, and a bunch of other places. Mexico is one of them, so that means we could go to my main home and most likely see the others too."_

"_But wait, Duckberg isn't asleep or destroyed, not even Moustown or this any of them!" _Goofy then rationalized. Last he knew, his house and town were safe and so was every other toon world.

" _Right, but Mexico and another part of the Toon World are. They fell into darkness when all the worlds started to, and was save when Sora closed the door to light the first time, but as the last seven worlds it was asleep. It has manifested its own world away from the main world, thus making it something new. I believe the will of it's inhabitants severed it, giving it the needed energy to be its own world, but its still connected to the Toon Universe."_

"_...Mexico...Mexico...I know someone from here...Oh...Oh, master, you don't mean that-" _ Donald seemed to be understanding what was happening, but not explaining much to the annoyance of Sora.

" _Be on your toes you three, this quest will help your abilities grow and to reach your goals. Either to be a Keyblade Master, to save your loved ones, to save your worlds and to save the light. Your Dream Eaters are with you as well, but until you get a better grip of your situation, don't call them out."_

"_Wait, what about clothes?! I'm in my underwear!" _ Sora suddenly turned red.

" _Do not worry, my magic will help you there. Good luck, I will be in touch, and the others will be here as well." _

And with that, their minds cleared and Yen Sid was gone from their feeling warmth on their bodies, the trio looked down to their bodies, a golden glow and orbs of magic clinging to their skin.

" 'Ey! I've been gettin' reports of tres loco, naked, men in the park! cuál está pasando aquí?!" a sudden yell made them look up. Approaching them on a horse was a big, burly rooster with a cowboy hat on and golden star pinned to his leather-vest. Obviously he was apart of the law.

"Ah, mornin' officer!" the three chorused with big, cheesy, smiles pasted on their faces and their hands behind their, rocking on their heels.

" You three are comin' wit' me for questioning!" the rooster then jumped off his steed and held a pair of handcuffs in his hands.

Taking a step back, Sora, Donald and Goofy got into a fighting stance, ready to knock the officer down and running off; they could not afford getting arrested, especially Sora since he was still too young and his mother would kill him.

" 'Ey! constable Arturo! ¿qué está pasando aquí? ¿Qué han hecho estos chicos?" Another rooster approached them on a horse. Sora noted how this guy was skinnier with a big sombrero on his red hair which stuck out forward from underneath. Suddenly in his peripheral view spotted Donald stiffening and slowly looking back as well, his eyes wide and bill fallen open once more. Once the duck and rooster met eye to eye the latter's face brightened and grinned.

"Aye caramba! Es Pato Donald mi viejo amigo! ES TAN MUY LARGO!" he suddenly cried in what Sora recognized as Spanish, which he knew absolutely none of, but apparently Donald knew him. The skinny rooster jumped off his steed as well, pulling Donald in a bear-hug.

The fowl smiled sincerely, his back cracking audibly. "Its good to see you too Panchito." he breathed from his choke-hold.

" You know'em panch?" asked officer, Arturo, still eying Sora. Was he still in his pajamas? Looking down Sora found that he was in his outfit from when he was in during the exam with a few extra charms he recognized from the clothes the fairies had given him in his last new outfit. Goofy too was in a new outfit too, though Sora remembered it from when they were passing along the fields before heading off on their second journey and waking up from their long slumber; even Donald was in the outfit from that time. This was considerable more casual looking than Sora was used to.

" Si! Its Pato Donald, Arturo! He is famous! And my fellow Caballero!" The skinny rooster held one arm around the duck's shoulders to keep the duck close and used his free one to slap his chest- from Donald's slight sputtering, it was quite hard too.

" Caballero?" Sora spoke his confusion, looking to Goofy for an explanation, but the dog just smiled and shrugged.

Arturo seemed to squint his eyes, then reach into his vest-pocket for a pair of spectacles which he placed on top of his beak. Sure enough, when he was Donald, he grinned madly.

" Oh Dios mío! No me di cuenta! Please forgive me mister Duck! I'm quite blind, but do not like my specs. Well then, on your way; watch'em Panch." the burly rooster then jumped back on his horse and trotted away.

Panchito grinned madly, twirling his friend once more to get a good look at him.  
" Aye yi, yi! Donald, have you been working out ,amigo? You seem a bit bigger in the arms, hope you're not living off junk food!" his laughter was musical and full of glee. Sora already was starting to like this guy.

"Yeah, Panch, I've been training some." the duck chuckled and placed his hands on his old friend's shoulders. "And you're still skinny as usual, eh?"

"Gotta stay light for the bulls! You can't a toro so easily when yer' chunky." a red hand then patted Donald's belly playfully, causing the duck to turn red in the face and get annoyed as usual.

" Uh, hey, Donald?" the keybearer waved a hand to get his party-buddy's attention.

Donald backed away from the rooster and gesture a hand towards him.

" Sora, this Panchito Pistoles, a good friend of mine; Goofy, I think you met Panch a few times when he visited town,"

"Oh, yea'! I remember, nice to see you again Panchito." Goofy grinned and shook the rooster's hand, who took it with such an energy that they feared the arm would come off.

"Bueno to see ya' once more Goof!" Panchito then turned to Sora and shook his arm just as fiercely with his grin never failing.

" Me and Donald go very way back with our other caballero, Jose!"

" Wow, I'm Sora! Me and Donald have been a few adventures too." Sora then found his lips turn up into a grin as well, the rooster's smile contagious. Finally his hand was released and the young man had to flex it to get feeling back into it.

" So Donal', what brings ya' here to Mexico? Last I saw, you were busy at the House of Mouse!"

"House of Mouse?" Sora tilted his head once more.

" It was a job we had with the king a while back, very fun." Goofy explained with a smile.

" Yeah, well, I got news of trouble brewing up here, so I decided to come check up on you; Sora and Goofy tagged along." it was obvious to the other party members that Donald was lying and they could only assume it was to keep safe and not meddle.

Panchito's face turned into a harsh frown and his hands hovered over the twin pistols on his belt-holder. " There has been a few noticeable crimes in the last month, but nothing I can't handle. " his beak then turned into a smug smirk.

The magician smirked and placed a hand on his hip. "Yeah, I know Panch, but you can never be too safe. So hey, what have these crimes been?"

Panchito then strutted over to his white horse, petting his muzzle affectionately before jumping back onto the saddle. "First, lets head over to the local taqueria for some food, me and Senor Martinez haven't eaten much today. Your treat, amigo!"

"Hey!" Donald huffed madly, balling his fist and hunching over.

Sora laughed and approached the white-horse, patting the steed's head before joining Panchito on the horse. "I like you Panchito! You know how to have fun!"

" A'Hyuck! Usually its Sora turning Donald all red and mad." Goofy then joined Sora on the saddle, leaning back slightly.

The red-faced duck grumbled under his breath, coming up beside the colt and swatting Sora back so to take the spot behind Panchito. "Shut up."

" HAHAHA! VAMANOS, AMIGOS! I know the best place where they make the most hottest chili around!" the rooster cried out in glee and kicked Senor Martinez into a run, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

* * *

_I just needed to get this out. I just can't help to make fics, or at least get my ideas out there for them!_  
_This is also really my first fic for the Kingdomhearts category, and what better way than making a multi-chaptered fic on a character who is hardly used in fics?_

_I just really love the friendship between the Caballeros, and love how they complement each other's character; so I decided, hey! This seems like a fun thing to write about in kingdomhearts!_  
_Another story I would have made before this would have been one on Max Goof, but I really loved these three more. _  
_I also find Panchito reminds me of Sora ever so much, ha!_

_This fic will be five chapters at the most, hopefully, but no more than ten chapters if more! I wanna try and make the chapters long and the story not too intricate- which I sorta feel I failed around the part of Yen Sid explaining te Toon Universe :/_  
_After Mexico, we will go on to Brazil and meet Jose, 'Ze', Carioca! I will take as much I can from the comics, which I have seen few pages but not understood since its in either Portuguese, Italian or Spanish._

_Updates will sorta by far and wide since I have other fics to work on, but I promise the chapters will hopefully be decent! Any ideas you have, or advice and tips you wanna give me, just Review away and as long as you are logged in I may reply. And yes, the Aracuan will be coming in :D_  
_Also sorry for the shitty Spanish, I used google translate; sad to say I do not know Spanish even if my family speaks it so often, and I have to take my classes on it._

_And Im also sorry, but I have yet to finish DDD because of Ansem's stupid second form, but have watched the walkthroughs on youtube._


	2. A story to tell

Sora had ridden on a horse before- heck he had ridden on a dragon's back before!- but the way Panchito rode his horse, it was like Sora had never done. The hot air pulled his spiky-brunette hair back and made his cheeks cool down- the sweat on his neck now dry. He had to clench his thighs down tightly and lean forward or else he and Goofy would go flying off. Donald too was leaning forward, his hands tightly holding on to the driver's waist for security.

"Panch, do you think you could slow down?!" he cried over the rush of wind, one hand going up to hold his hat down.

" This isn't even fast!" the rooster laughed gleefully, taking a glance behind his shoulder to his passengers. They were so comedic with their wide-eyed faces; the only one who seemed to be enjoying himself was Sora with a big grin- or was that the wind pulling his lips back?

Finally they started to slow down and the scenery could be enjoyed; there was a sigh of relief from the three behind Panchito. The town was big, but not so that it wasn't a community. The buildings were short, made of wood and were slightly worn-down. The men of the town all wore fringed cloths, boots, ten-gallon hats or sombreros and guns in holsters around their waists. It was pretty much what Sora associated cowboys in old-westerns with and what he decided it was; The Wild West.

They stopped in front of building with the sign 'Taqueria" in big, black, fading letters on top. They jumped off Senor Martinez and entered once the horse was tied to a post nearby. Panchito pushed the saloon-doors opens and lead the way to a round table where they sat around. Sora leaned over the table, folding his arms casually on the table-top and rubbing the back of his neck, feeling the sweat collect once more.

"Man, it's hot! It's worst than the heat in Agrabah!" the young man groaned, tilting his head to wipe more of the moisture off.

" Amigo, this is _cold _here." Panchito leaned his elbow onto the table and supported his chin in it, sitting sideways on his chair.

" Stop complain'in Sora, you survived that desert, you'll survive this one" Donald leaned his head in his own hand on top of the table, his other drumming absently.

" Hey, you not wearing pants! Of course you're not sweating!"

"Look at Goofy! He's wearing pants and a turtleneck! You don't see him cryin'!"

" I just don' think about tha' heat, it's all in ya' head, Sora." Goofy once again was the mediator of the group, not one to get into an argument so easily.

The red-rooster laughed aloud once more, lifting his head from his hand and banging his fist on the table a few times. "Donald! Your amigos are truly amusing as you are!"

Donald grumbled under his breath, eyes narrowing slightly; " The boy reminds me too much of you."

A young bird came up to them then, she held a pad of paper and a pencil in hand, which sorta confused Sora since he thought they were in some sort of old-western world. He leaned over to Panchito.  
"Is this place like a western movie? Or...?" the young man whispered not too silently

"Oh, Chico," Panchito chortled at the boy's naive mind, " It mostly looks it, but we have other necessities you Americans have! We keep the spirit of the west within the town with not refurbishing the buildings!"

Sora turned a bit red with embarrassment, shrugging back in his seat with a shy smile. He should've guessed since Donald had said his home was just a plane ride away, and if Donald lived in the same world, then it shouldn't have been too retro. But Sora was not as much brains as he was heart; Riku was the real smart one, always making a theory and explaining it to the brunette.

"Hola, Panchito, quiénes son tus amigos?" the waitress in a blouse and long skirt looked to the red rooster; she had curly, dark, hair that flowed around her round face and across her slim, bare, shoulders.

" Maria, these are my amigos, Donald, Goofy and Sora!" He gestured to each person in turn. Sora enjoyed how he casually and energetically talked to everyone, as if they were the best of friends though he may not have known them for so long. It was a nice change from the seriousness of the mysterious tower.

" Hola, Senors," she dazzled them with a smile full of friendliness. "What can I can get you?"

"We'll take some water and a bowl of chili for now." Panchito leaned his chin in both his hands, looking up to the woman.

" Bueno, voy a estar de vuelta en un momento." she then strolled off with a sway of her hips.

" So Panchito, about tha' crimes." Goofy then started the conversation. This made the atmosphere much more serious, everyone's faces turning hard. The red rooster crossed one leg over the other under the table.

" Its just a few thieving. On the first someone took the mayor's prized possession, his lucky lasso; on the fourth, the Gomez's bulls they raise were set loose into town and caused much damage...The weird thing on that incident were the strange color they were before we knocked them out, they were purple and black colored. They soon turned regular color after they were out cold."

Sora realized now that these bulls must have been nightmares, but how did they change from regular bulls to nightmares and back?

" And then people have reported everyday since then that the animals are changing color and causing a ruckus."

Donald crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair; Goofy pinched his chin and leaned over the table; both were in serious thought. There was a few seconds of silence before Maria came back, placing a cup of water in front of each of them and two big bowls in the middle.

" Here you go, don't eat the chili too fast, you'll regret it." she giggled, placing her tray under one arm. " I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Are you guys gonna capture the menace whose been bewitching our town?"

" Yeah! We're on the case!" Sora gave Maria one of his 'Don't-Worry' smiles. The woman put a hand against her cheek and became flushed at such a handsome face.

" That means a lot, Sora. My little niños can't sleep because of all the ruckus!"

" You have kids?" Goofy's filled with curiosity; the woman seemed too young to have kids.

Maria nodded modestly, smiling softly at the thought of the kids she took care of. " Oh, they're not my, really!" she realized what Goofy was implying, as did many people when she told them of her children.

" They are orphans, ones who don't want to live with the church or the church doesn't have much to give them. The nuns do their best, but there are so many niños." Her smile turned wistful. " So I take in a few and cloth them, feed'em and give them shelter. I may not have a lot, but I can do my best."

Sora felt his heart twist in agony at the thought of those poor kids. Even Donald and Goofy were glumly looking down at their drinks.

" Your niños aren't the only ones!" Panchito then piped in, his eyes narrowing in thought. " I heard from La señorita aqueres that her littl'uns have been sleeping unwell too."

Maria clicked her tongue at the information. " The poor ninos, having to be so afraid and not being able to sleep." she then turned and left while shaking her head in dismay.

The red rooster took a spoonful of his food, his eyes still deep in thought. Donald looked to his good friend, having rarely seen the caballero look so deep in his thoughts. This meant a lot to Panchito, the duck could tell; he then nodded to himself as he resolved to help his fellow caballero as the rooster would do the same.

The duck's eyes then went to the youngest at the table, watching him take a big spoonful of chili from his bowl and shoving it in his mouth without another thought. Sora's face red bright bed and smoke practically steamed from his nostrils as the flaming tasting burned his throat. Quickly he chugged down his and the other three's glasses of water before taking a deep breath and calming down.

There was uproarious laughter from Goofy, Donald and Panchito; hands slamming into the table with lost control.

" Shutup! That was super hot!" The young man turned red once more, but from embarrassment; he should have listened to Maria and Panchito about the spiciness. He then continued his bowl of chili, but with smaller spoonfuls, and his other two companions followed with safety. Panchito was the only one able to take the spiciness and finished off another bowl after his first.

After their lunch, the four jumped back on Senor Martinez's saddled and trotted comfortably along the path.

" So, we can all agree its dreameaters, right?" Donald looked back to Sora and Goofy who nodded in agreement.

" Woah there, amigo! What are these dreameaters you all think are our suspects?" Panchito turned his upper-body to look at his passengers.

" Ummmm, I don't know if you'll believe us, Panch." Sora furrowed his brows, trying to find his words to explain the concept of Dreameaters and the nightmares.

" Listen here, Panchito!" Donald took it upon himself to explain to his amigo what was most likely happening. " Ya' know about dreams and nightmares, right?"

" Of course, mi pato!" The red rooster leaned back against the white bird's chest casually.

" Well, in the realm of sleep, where you dream, there are creatures called Dream Eaters who are either Spirits- which protect ya'- and Nightmares- which cause ya' pain. We think Nightmares are the ones to blame for all the crimes." The magician looked down to the bull-rider laying against him; the two were good friends, enough that Donald did mind being so close to him, the three of them( With their other fellow caballero) were very close as such.

There was a moment of silence, Panchito's amber eyes looking up to Donald's blue, then to Sora's blue orbs and Goofy's own black ones. They were so serious about this. The rooster then burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over and grabbing his sides.

" Todos ustedes son tan divertido! Pato tonto! usted y sus amigos son hilarantes!" he cried in Spanish, confusing the three behind him.

" I'm telling the truth, Panchito!" Donald's temper started to grow, clenching his bill tight in anger.

But the other bird could not stop his laughter and nearly fell of his steed.

" We'll just have to show him!" Goofy leaned over Sora's shoulder and raised a finger.

Sora fisted a hand into his other palm in agreement. " We'll just ask the kids to explain their nightmares! If they're nightmares, then the kids should be able to describe them accurately. Especially since theres the symbol on the Dream Eater's body."

Donald frowned and crossed his arms, glaring at Panchito who was starting to get himself together. He'd punch the rooster if they weren't all squished onto this horse, but he'd be sure to save it for later. Soon they were back in the town park where they had started at and jumped off Senor Martinez's back; the horse trotted beside them as they continued onwards to the children who ran around playing games with one another.

One child, a younger rooster with a straw-hat on his red hair. He and a few others were chasing one another in what looked to be a game of tag. The young boy tripped over his feet, but did not cry, rather giggled. Finding this as an opening to distract him from the game, Sora crouched down beside the little rooster with a friendly smile.

" Hello!"

"Hola!"

" Do you speak English?" Sora realized there could have been a language barrier.

" Si! I do! I'm Lucio, who are you senor?" The little rooster sat up on his knees, not minding his hard-jeans getting dirty.

"I'm Sora, Lucio, its very nice to meet you. Do you mind me asking you a few questions?" The brunette had no problem talking to the child as an equal; his voice did not change into a softer tone as some adult's did when talking to a kid. Sora knew that he way to earn a little one's respect was to treat them fairly as any child wanted.

" Sure! I don't mind! But I wanna' favor in return!" Lucio smirked and placed his hands on his hips, showing off his superior mind. Sora looked back to Panchito, Donald, and Goofy who were all chuckling at the little boy's slyness.

" Okay then, no problem! First off, I wanna know if you've had any nightmares or problems sleeping at night?" The young man turned back to the child.

The little rooster's face turned from happy and sly, to wide and afraid; his chocolate eyes widened, his mouth frowned and gaped opened slightly, and his brown feathers seemed to turned pale. This was enough of a confirmation for Sora as it was to Panchito who crouched down to one knee beside Lucio as well; his face filled with worry for the little kid.

"S-Si...I...I do have nightmares at night. And they're horrible!" The boy was near tears, his hands fisting his shirt as if it were his security blanket. Suddenly another child heard his cry and rushed over to Lucio; this prompted their play-pal to join her and a few others get curious to what was happening.

" Can you explain them too? What's in these nightmares?" Sora was cautious not to make the little rooster cry or talk about something he may not want to.

" Mama says it's because I am a bad boy, she says I shouldn't worry...Thats it's just a warning from El'Cucuy...But...But its not just in my nightmares! I see the creatures around the town too!" Lucio was now swarmed by five other children who were all fearful too; sniffles and sobs could be heard.

"I see'em too, senor!"

"Me too, senor!"

" They're purple!"

"And look like animals!"

"They tease me!"

Sora listened to the kids add in to the description, all of them having similar nightmares.

" Tell me, Lucio, kids, did these creatures have this symbol?" The key-bearer then drew a picture in the dirt with his finger. The kids all leaned over Lucio to see, gasping at the symbol. The little rooster let out a whine and let tears roll down his cheeks.

"Y-Y-YES!" He then broke down into tears. The nightmares had started what seemed like long ago and haunted him and the other kids every night; they were frightful to sleep. Their parents did not believe them and did their best to soothe the children, but even so, when the lights turned off and the moonbeams were the only dim lighting, they coward under their blankets. And when they finally fell to exhaustion, the creatures came, and showed them their worst fears.

Lucio found himself wrapped in Panchito's arms, the older rooster feeling pity for the little boy. The rest of the kids gathered close to the red rooster as well, tears falling down their eyes.

" Hey now, Chico, no más lágrimas; Big boys don't cry." Panchito sat the little rooster on his knee and wiped his tears with a hand. But Lucio's sobs racked his small frame with no mercy.

" Thats right, Lucio!" Sora piped in, giving a fierce-brave smile. " Don't worry, I'll take care of those creatures! And they won't bother you anymore!"

His tears started to subside now at the words of encouragement; he sniffled a few times and hiccuped. "R-R-Rea-ea-lly?" he sobbed.

Both boy and rooster nodded confidently to the children crying around them.

" Of course! I have my friends with me too! By tonight you'll be able to sleep peacefully!" The young man raised a fist. He looked to Donald and Goofy, both beside him with confident smiles as well.

" All you need to do is look in your heart," He then poked a finger at Lucio's chest. " You'll find the strength you need within it, no matter how scary and dark it is. Your heart is one of the strongest things you posses, along with your will and soul."

Lucio looked down to Sora's finger against his chest, he looked up to the young man, up to Panchito, to Donald and Goofy, and finally at his friends who were all sniffling, but not crying any more. They all smiled and wiped away any dry tears, trying to get rid of the evidence of such a childish act. The little rooster nodded, turning his face serious, though it was a lot more adorable rather than brave.

"R-R-ight!" He nodded and sniffled a bit more.

" Okay then, mijito!" Panchito gave a playful punch to Lucio's chin, pushing it upwards. " You and the other littl'uns go off and play, si?"

"Si!" Lucio jumped off the bigger rooster's knee, running over to the other kids. They all went off running, the last their tears gone and replaced with adolescent giggles; Lucio stopped before joining his friends further, giving a glance back at Sora and his friends now in a little huddle with that serious look grown-ups got when they were talking about something secret. One day, the little rooster hoped to be like the bigger boy, with no fears and bravery that a hero had. And of course he wanted to be like Panchito, the brave bull-rider who was like a second sheriff of the town. Lucio then looked between the two and smiled; perhaps he could be like both since they very much alike.

" Lucio! Come on!" Cried one of his pals, urging the other to join in their game of cowboys and robbers. With one last glance over his shoulder, the rooster fixed his straw-hat and scurried over to join the others.

"Okay, maybe what you've all said is true, maybe there are bad spirits messing with the town." Panchito place his hands on his hips and quirked his beak in thought. " But if what you said is true, then wouldn't we all be asleep?"

There was a moment of silence as Sora and Goofy looked to Donald with worried faces; Donald put his owns hands on his hips as he looked to his old-friend. They shouldn't have let him think this far into it. This was meddling, and they were never supposed to meddle; such a thing caused trouble in all the worlds. There were times when the trio wanted to meddle so much, just to bring all the worlds together, but it could not be. Only the most trusted and powerful were told of the outside worlds.

Donald growled and stomped his foot. He turned around and clench all his muscles to keep himself from screaming. It was so frustrating to lie to his close friend; the two had been through so many years of adventures and laughter. But he also had duties he was oathed to.

" _Master Yen-Sid! Please! I...I don' know what to do!" _He reached out his conscience to the powerful wizard.

"_Ah, Donald, there are many things we can not do, yet we wish to. We may think they are for the best, but not always are they." _The old-wizard's voice called through the duck's mind, also subsequently Sora's and Goofy's; the latter both looked down in dismay, leaving Panchito to look confusedly at them.

" _But master! Panch is a good pal of mine! He has a good heart, no matter how stupid he may act or seem! Allow him to know!" _

"_... Only the most entrusted and powerful are to know of the outside worlds. Sometimes the hero of the world does not know; such as you've seen in many of the worlds you've been too. Panchito Pistoles is very much a hero...And does have a heart full of light like your own and the king's...Very well then, tell him, and make sure our laws are followed. One slip up, and his memories will have to be released." _

Donald, Sora and Goofy all grinned and brightened up.

"Thanks master!" The duck throw an arm up in glee and turned on his heel to see Panchito eyeing him funny. The magician gave a nervous chuckle and smile.

" So, Panch! About what ya' said about bein' asleep and stuff."

" Ya' said yourself patito, these spirits only exist in the dream realm, so we must be asleep...But thats ridiculous! I don't remember settling down for a siesta." It was obvious the red rooster was still not completely convinced and no one blamed him. To be told you were really asleep wasn't something the trio would have believed at first too, but after the things they had been through, this was just a spectacle on what could truly happen.

" Well, it's complicated, you see, its not just _you _who's asleep, its the world." Donald started his explanation. Already the Mexican was showing confusion on his features, widening and lowering his eyes to stare at the duck as if to say, 'are you serious?'.

" Why don't you sit down, Panchito, this may take a while. I know it took me some time to understand." Sora sat down on the floor, realizing they were by the same tree he had woken up by. The young man pressed his back to the trunk and sighed. The others joined him, letting the shade of the branches keep them cool.

"World, Donald? How can the world be asleep?" The bull-rider sat down closest to the royal magician; he removed his sombrero and leaned his head on his close friend's shoulder.

"Well...It starts with a witch, a madman an' their dark minions who attack the darkness in our hearts. Like Sora said, there's light in all our hearts as is this darkness." Donald continued, taking pleasure from the simple gesture; it had been a long while since he had been in such a familiar and simple place. It made him miss his own home in Duckberg and Toontown and the other adventures he had with his nephews, uncle and friends.

So Donald told the story to Panchito, Sora and Goofy helping out too when they thought best, which at times the duck found it unneeded.

_**Author's Notes:**_

_As you guys have noticed, I meant it when updates were far and infrequent- or well I deem it a long time. School is very time consuming, and I'm quite the procrastinator. But I promise the chapters will be long!_

_I've gotta say, if there are an mistakes, like misplaced words or missing words, I'm sorry, but I only go over the story once, sorta just scan through it for any major mess-ups. My beta is busy and isn't really into this fandom, so its just me here._

_Thanks for all the follows, faves and reviews! Within the first like ten minutes of the story being published I got faves and watches; I'm glad people find this decent enough to follow and like. _

_And to the reviews, yes I am aware of Jose being called Ze in Brazil, I am quite kept up with whats posted about the comics XD I do my research, or try to._

_Once again, excuse the shit-ass Spanish from google translator._

_I also hope you guys don't mind the slight OT3 I have for Donald, Panchito and Jose; I won't make it so big in this story, but they'll be subtle hints. If you squint your eyes enough, you can see it._

_~Eccy, 3/5/13_


	3. Taking the bull by the horns

Panchito was silent for a while now, worrying Donald to no end. Their story had ended just a while ago and the rooster seemed to understand from all his nodding. Goofy had dozed off not too long ago, and Sora was dozing off, trying to keep his head from lolling downward. The only noises were of horses trotting, the tree rustling softly and Senor Martinez grazing nearby.

"Panch... You okay?" Donald finally asked, finding he had given him enough time to think; they had to hurry and find the main dreameater if the kids were to sleep peacefully tonight.

The red rooster then looked to the duck, his face full of fury and fierceness. Donald was taken back at this sudden show of emotion, and feared the other would start yelling.

" I believe you, Donal'! And I wanna help out in any way I can!" Was his declaration. He wouldn't let these creatures take over his world, or town.

" But..." Panchito's face then turn to an angry sort of sad; his red eyes turning to the pedestrians going about their own business. " If we defeat these monsters... Will the town wake up? Can we go back to being normal?" There were so many families in this town, all who were unaware that they could not leave currently; it hurt the bull-rider to know they were stuck.

Sora's head lulled on to Donald's shoulder, starting to wake up. The duck looked to the mass of brunette hair, thinking over Panchito's question. He was quite sure the world would go back to it's rightful place in the solar system, but he yet to see this first-handedly. And then there was another world to wake up, so it wouldn't be a quick job.

" Yes, master Yen Sid said so, but we also have another world to wake up before it can be done. So if we get rid of the boss-nightmare, the place will be safe." He looked towards his companion with a confident gaze, his brows furrowing and beak turning into a smile.

The red rooster nodded, raising his fist; Donald in turn raised his own and they bumped them together in an agreement. With Panchito as their new ally, the party could surely win this!

Sora had closed his eyes now, letting the darkness fill his mind and relax his being. He would hope for a dream, but instead there was only darkness. He looked at the blackness all around him.

" Am I dreaming inside a dream? What is this? Where am I?" his thoughts echoed loudly around the empty space. Determined to wake up, Sora closed his eyes and rubbed them madly with his palms. He would not fall into darkness once more like before.

" Sora! Sora! Hey, Sora!" Called a voice the young man recognized as Kairi's. He looked around for her, but saw only black. Suddenly a white light illuminated below, pulsing in the darkness.

" Down here you dork!" She called once more. He could see her now, her arms reaching up towards him.

Sora tried to reach an arm down to her, wanting to grasp her fingers, but she was too far down. Suddenly the blackness ebbed away into his island. Sora stood on the smaller island with the paopu tree rustling behind him. He looked down, over the edge and saw Kairi once more, but she was a child, trying to stay above the water. He was a child as well, too afraid to jump in after her.

"Sora! Sora!" cried the little girl, kicking and flailing to keep oxygen in her lungs.

The boy wanted to jump. Willing himself to. But his body wouldn't do it! He had to save his friend! He had to dive in! Finally convincing himself full on to jump in. He leapt forward, hands reaching out for Kairi. But once he fell into the sea, there was no Kairi.

He held his breath, puffing his cheeks out as he floated. Looking up he saw the sun shining down through the water. His eyes gazed around for his friend; the tropical water was transparent and fresh. Suddenly a school of fish passed by him in a flash, the boy lifting his arms up against the sudden rush of current.

"Sora!" Kairi's voice called from deeper down. Sora looked down and found her trying to claw her way up through the water, but something was wrapped around her leg; a black tentacle, continuing up her body.

" BUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Ursula the sea-witch appeared, her enormous body rising above Kairi's small frame; one tentacle pulling the girl closer. Sora summoned his keyblade, but what came was his wooden sword. He looked at it with shock and then to the witch with fear. He couldn't fight with just this toy; with a mighty swing of his arm the toy was flung at Ursula who felt nothing. More tentacles appeared and pivoted themselves toward Sora. The boy turned tail and swam as fast as he could towards the shining sun.

But no matter how hard he paddled, no progress was made, and tentacles were right behind him. Finally the boy reached out a hand, his muscles too tired to continue.

"Sora!"

The young man bolted up, gasping for breath and running a hand through his hair as the other patted around his chest, making sure he was in one piece. His blue eyes looked frantically around him, seeing only the concerned faces of his friends; his sudden jerk waking Goofy from his own nap.

"Are you alright, amigo?" Panchito raised a brow in question. The young man stared at the rooster for a moment, trying to find his words and mind. Finally he nodded and laid back against the tree, his heart slowing down.

" _Again?" _Sora turned his gaze up toward the tree branches. It wouldn't be the first time the nightmares had plagued his thoughts or unconsciousness. It began soon after he woke up, as he was enclosed in the armor deep within his heart. Nightmares had trapped him though he was being protected and after Riku had saved him, they still haunted him. And it scared him.

"So as we were saying," Donald then went on. " Panch said we should go investigate and camp out at the farm where the nightmares were first seen."

The young man nodded and stood, dusting off his pants. " Right, that sounds like a plan. Let's go get some supplies."

" Come on then, amigos! Don't worry about supplies, senior Gomez will lend us a few blankets and pillows as long as we're helping him out." Panchito then stood up too, going over to Senior Martinez and rubbing his head affectionately; the horse in turn neighed and smiled at his owner's petting. The rooster then jumped up onto the saddle and grabbed the reigns.

" Okay, makes everything faster, as soon as we get this place safe, the sooner we can go on to the next one." Sora let Donald jump on behind Panchito and joined behind the duck; Goofy was right behind him, still groggy from his sleep.

* * *

The warm,night, breeze swept across the farm, ruffling Sora's brunette hair. There was much grassland around the ranch to hide behind, and thats exactly what the four were doing. Senior Gomez had graciously given them pillows and blankets for the night, in promise that they would catch the culprit behind all the crimes. There was a row of bushes and trees close to the bullpen to which our heroes took as a hiding spot; their blankets and pillows were all piled together into a fluffy, big, bed.

Sora, Donald and Panchito currently were settled close, behind the bushes, watching the bulls with hawk-like eyes; Donald even had a pair of binoculars. meanwhile Goofy was softly snoring in the makeshift bed.

" So far, nothings happened, other than these stupid bulls shitting everywhere." The young man placed his face in his palms as they balanced on his knees. A sudden slap to the back of his head made him lose balance and fall over to his side.

" Watch your language young man." Donald kept his eyes in the binoculars, his free hand that had struck the boy held a scolding finger.

Sora rubbed the back of his noggin, glaring at the duck; he hated it when he or Goofy acted parently towards him. Especially since they were so good at it, as if they had raised kids of their own. "Yeah, dad! Whatever you say, dad!"

Both Panchito and Donald shushed him, placing a finger to their beaks; the brunette frowned, but went back to watching the animals in silence. They had already been out there for a good three hours, and it didn't seem like anything would happen. It was times like these that he wished he had some sort of toy to play with, even if it was childish, anything to pass the time better.

" I'm sorry, but this boring. I need to stretch or something, anything to keep me amused."

"Here, play with this, chico." Panchito reached into a bag hanging over Senior Martinez's- the horse actually down on his knees beside his master- and threw something into Sora's lap.

The young man looked at the object, twisting it in his hand. It was some sort of cone with a ball connected by a string attached to the top.

"What am I suppose to do?"

" You try to catch the ball into the cup."

How could that be fun? Sora raised a brow to the rooster, then to the cup, and finally thrusted it into the air, making the ball fly. It didn't make it into the cup. He tried once again, but no success either. Another few tries had him eyeing the ball and cone challengingly, still not catching the little red ball into the cone. Before he knew it, it had been another hour, and finally something happened.

" Look! Its a Nightmare! It's sneaking up into the top window of the house!" Donald pointed up to the second story of the Gomez's home where three windows were and a patio built in front of the middle. Sora put the toy down and pressed his shoulder against Donald's, trying to get and see through the binoculars.

" Oh, no! That is little Tulio's room! Its gonna give the nino nightmares!" Panchito quickly ran out of the bushes and straight for the house.

(And this is where the battle themes usually come up, such as Destiny's Force, and or Night's Fate.)

"Wait, Panch!" Donald quickly ran of the bushed right behind his friend, worried he would get hurt. Of course the rooster could hold his own better than most people, but these were bad spirits they were about to battle, and not everyone could take down a dark being on their first try.

" Goofy! Wake up! We have trouble!" Sora quickly called behind to the sleeping warrior before running off after Donald and Panchito. He looked up to the patio, watching the spirit drift toward the window. They wouldn't make it in time if they just walked through the door! There was only skill he could do to catch the Nightmare and that was to Flow. Remembering what Neku had taught him and the experience he had gained from the dream realms before, Sora jumped against one of the support beams of the bottom-patio roof, gaining air and jumping mid-air to land on it. He then proceeded to jumped off-against the wall and onto the middle-patio's wooden rails.

The Nightmare stopped in its track, sensing the danger of battle from a bearer of light. Down below Panchito stared in awe at Sora, having seen the boy just defy gravity and was in disbelief and admiration; Donald meanwhile was snapping his figures, trying to remember a spell to lift them up to Sora's level.

" Not so fast! You're gonna lead me to the boss." The young man lifted a finger and waved it with a smirk on his lips. The spirit squeaked angrily, literally fuming and causing a comedic scene to which the boy chuckled. Suddenly the creature floated off towards the bulls, sparks suddenly popping around it.

"Hey! No! Don't do that! Stop the magic works! The bulls!" Sora quickly jumped after it, trying to grab it's legs but failed. Instead he landed on one knee in the bullpen, snapping his eyes up to the Nightmare incanting a spell on the animals. Suddenly there was a roar and a whinnie from his left. It didn't take much thinking to know what had caused such a threatening noise; he looked back and was met nose to nose with a purple colored bull, it's eyes turned red and smoke puffing out of his nose.

Sora chuckled awkwardly, taking a few steps back. "Um, hey guys?" he then looked all around him, seeing the now possessed bulls surrounding him. There was the sound of hoofs scraping on the dirt and the young man barely had time to turn around with a jump before seeing one bull charge at him. Quickly the boy crossed his arms in front of his body, cringing away as he summoned his weapon; within seconds both the keyblade and the bull's muzzle collided and the bearer was pushed back a few feet, dirt rising up.

" Don'cha worry Sora, A-hyuck! I got ya' back!" Goofy quickly jumped over the fence and charged at another bull, pushing it out of the pen. The purple rose off the animal's fur and faded as it rose high into the night sky.

Sora heaved a breath of relief. Once again his friend came to his aid, and as always it was time to kick bad guy butt. Spinning his Keyblade in one hand, the young man crouched down into a battle position, ready to take on bull now. One beefy-animal was brave enough to come at him, and Sora easily ran forward, ramming the Keyblade into the the possessed creature's face. With his game on, the boy easily won the battle of strength and pushed the bull back enough for an attack, finishing off the spirit within it.

Suddenly there was a gunshot behind the keybearer, scaring him into cringing and turning around. A bull fell down to it's knees and the spirit within lifted away. Panchito jumped over the fence, blowing smoke off the top of his gun.  
" That was not my usual bullet, but it worked anyways!" He grinned; he was actually quite happy his usual bullets were not in his gun, or else the poor bull would have met life's end, but the shot seemed to just shoot the Nightmare out of it.

" It worked either way, so no matter." Donald came up beside him, a spell book in one hand as the other gripped his staff.

The rooster looked curiously at the duck's items and tilted his head; what were they? What did they do? " Patito, what is with the stick? Do you bash people on the head?" he chuckled playfully, causing annoyance to Donald.

" No, Panch! Its a magic staff! And this book is full of spells. I'm a magician." He said in a 'Matter-Of-Fact' tone and full of pride. He flipped a page and scanned his eyes through it.

Panchito stood there for a moment, staring at his friend in silence. His amber eyes looked from the duck to his staff and then at the book in the crook of his arm. He even seemed to have donned a wizard-like hat and the whole get-up just made him giggle. It erupted from deep in his chest and then erupted into louder laughter.

"Oh mi señor! Esto es hilarante! Te ves tan lindo mi pequeño pato! Con usted se pega y reservar!" He cries between heaves of breaths.  
"C-Can you pull a quarter from behind my ear?!"

Donald frowned and snapped his book shut in one hand. The idiot thought he was playing, after all they had discusses on sleeping realms. Oh, now he'd get it! With flick of wrist to twirl the staff, there was a sizzling sound.

"...QUERIDA VIRGEN MARÍA, MADRE DE JESÚS!" Panchito then screamed, rocketing sky high as the floor under him was lighted on fire and his tail feathers were alight. Donald snickered and leaned his weight on his staff hand's hip.

" Donald! Stop screwing around! Somethings happening!" Sora called. As the two birds were having a quarrel, the young man and chief knight were busy getting rid of the bulls. All was fine, they had an advantage of being skilled fighters, but then the bulls all crowded around one another and now the purple coloring was lifting off their fur, swirling and merging together above them.

" Gwarsh, I think the boss is comin' guys!" Goofy backed away from the commotion of bulls with his shield raised up.

Sure enough, ascending into the sky, forming from the smaller evil spirits. The sky darkened and the clouds gathered above, a few lightning bolts crashing down. Barriers were set around the four, trapping them for a battle.

The boss was a giant bull, the Dreameater symbol etched into it's face and lighting markings all over it's black and purple fur. its hooves raked the floor, causing a minor earthquake and knocking our heroes onto their behinds.

" Wow, do we always have to fight one of these?" Panchito took out his other pistole and reloaded the already used one.

" Every, single, world." Sora got to his feet, placing both hands on the Keyblade's hilt. The beast seemed to be a lightning element, and would need to be hurt in it's legs before any real damage could be made to the main body.

" So the legs first, then when it's down, we go wild on his ugly mug!"

" Right!" The rooster, duck and dog agreed, their thoughts in the same direction.

" Foolish little boy."

Sora quickly looked for the voice's owner, his eyes falling to the top of the Ox's head. The figure was small and wore the black coat of the Organization.

" Hey! I'm not little!" The brunette looked offended, letting his posture straighten a bit; who did that small guy think he was? Riku was tall than him, sure, but the keybearer was up to his face now! He was quite tall.

" Only little boys will argue back like such, height matters not here." the small guy took a step and faced his backs to the four heroes below. He spread out his right hand and took a glance back over his shoulder.

" Now, show me your power, chosen one. Defeat my monster, or perish and leave the worlds to darkness." He then snapped his fingers and evaporated away, leaving only leaving a bit of smoke behind. The beast then roared once more, ramming it's front hooves down into the dirt below. Finally it ran forward, rushing Sora.

Knowing he couldn't take on the giant bull, Sora jumped up onto it's face, running to the top of it's head and tried to keep on; the bull blew smoke from it's nostrils and started to buck wildly to rid of it's rider. The keybearer was sent flying off, the wind being knocked from his lungs; before he could hit the ground, he regained his balance mid air and twirled to get his footing as he came to land on his feet. Sora looked up, baring his teeth in frustration and saw his friends fighting; Panchito was shooting like mad while protecting Donald who was trying to look his book of spells with a angry face, and Goofy who seemed capable of taking the bull head on, trying to keep it back.

Sora charged forward, once near enough, jumping onto the hind legs, using his flow-motion to gain more air and charged up his energy. As he came down, the keyblade rammed into the evil spirit's back, releasing that energy with a giant slam. The monster cried out in pain before collapsing. Taking this as their chance, Sora, Donald and Goofy gathered together on it's back and locked hands, the trio thinking the same thing; they chanted the Trinity spell and jumped as one, sending a powerful blast of light down onto the beast.

Panchito was blinded for a moment, having to lift an arm over his eyes; the three had done something and he hoped it be the final attack to finish the enemy. Once he found the light bearable, his arm lowered down and his eyes began to blink open. Before him was Sora, Donald, Goofy and a bunch load of bubbles floating all around, a purple-pink aura spread about them and lifting up into the air with the bubbles; they all watched it ascend away and an item descend.

" What is that?" the rooster came up to the three. Sora held out his hands for it to land in.

" Most likely a prize of sorts left over. Sorta like a...Eeeerrrr...Trophy!" The young man grinned up to the object.

Little did the four notice, but there was a few others coming towards them. Seven kids came trotting down the dirt path to the Gomez's farm in their pajamas, having seen the light show and awaken from their nightmares that seemed to melt away in their sleep. Leading them was little Lucio, a hand holding his straw hat down so the warm night's air did not go off with it. The group looked in awe at the spectacle before them: Panchito, Donald, Goofy, and Sora circled together in a show of light and bubbles, and what looked like rope descending down on them.

"Whats this?" Donald eyes the roped now draped in Sora's hands who looked even more confused.

" Aye caramba!" Panchito slapped a hand on his knee gleefully, confusing his friends.

" It's the mayor's most prized and lucky lasso! Remember, it was the first thing stolen!" he explained quickly, leaning in close. Donald's, Goofy's, and Sora's eyes widened, taking in this information, and then they all grinned with the rooster.

" Of course! Let's go give it back to him! Maybe he can tell us about it, then we can figure out why it was stolen in the first place!" Sora walked ahead of the other three to lead; the sound of yawning stopped him though, and he turned around to eye his friends. All three of them had let out the sound and their eyes were dropped considerably.

" How about tomorrow?" Donald droned whiled rubbing one eye with the back of his hand.

" Yeah, its too late, Sora." Goofy mumbled, sagging down with weariness.

The young man, with all his young energy looked incredulously at his friends; even the fiery Panchito was yawning and sagging. With a looked down to the lasso in his hands, Sora too felt a yawn rip through his mouth and his eyes suddenly feel heavy. It was pretty late.

" Yeah, okay...Lets go sleep." He dragged his feet towards their makeshift bed behind the bushes; Panchito, Donald and Goofy followed, the duck leaning his rooster pal for support.

Lucio looked back to his pals with a mad grin on his beak. " Did you guys see that?! Sora and Panchito with their friends defeated the nightmares! They kept their promise!" he cheered.

The others all looked to each other with admiring grins; they could sleep in peace now! So they all ran to their respective homes, not caring if their parents woke, and jumped into bed and fell asleep once their heads hit the pillow.

Lucio removed his hat and placed it on his bedpost behind him before laying his head gently on his pillow. There was silent moment where his mind whirred madly. The nightmare beast was dead now, he had seen enough to know that, but still there was a small voice in the back of his head that whispered otherwise. Clasping his hands together and pressing his knuckles against his forehead, the young boy prayed that he was right. For a good night's rest. And for Sora, Panchito, Donald and Goofy to be safe on their adventures.

Finally he closed his eyes and let his mind ease down. And as he had wished, there were no nightmares, or dreams in general really, but blissful sleep.

* * *

Sora, Donald, Panchito, and Goofy all stood in a line before the mayor's desk. The old toucan bird sat in his office chair, his hands holding his lucky lasso. The four had asked for a meeting and presented the lasso to him, then explained how they caught the culprit and beat them, but even so the criminal got away; they were lucky enough, they said, to have getting back this item. Sure enough, it was his most cherished lasso that he had used back when he was younger and was an actual cowboy, it had gotten him out of a lot of messes.

" Thank you all for retrieving my lasso, I don't know how to thank you for bringing it back and protecting the town. We are all grateful." He nodded to each of them with a smile. Scooting back in his chair and opening the draw in his desk, the mayor brought out an old box that had collected much dust and opened it. Inside were a few, old, badges that were only used with the sheriff and deputies, but all they needed was their current ones, Arturo and his partner, Mildred. He took out four badges that were almost identical if not for the symbol and stood up from his desk.

"Here, these badges are the ones we give the officers, but since we only have two, and you four have been more than brave in being enforcers of justice, I will give them to you. So when you are in town, all will know you are the law and respect you." he pinned them on each of their shirts.

Sora grinned and pulled his shirt forward to see the pin better; it was very nice in a vintage sort of way. He'd put with his other little things he'd gotten from every world, which he cherished deeply.

" Mayor, we were wonderin', whats so special about the lasso?" Goofy inquired.

" Its been with me since I was a boy, and my papa was alive. I grew up on a ranch as many here do, and my father was a bull-rider, but he was injured so badly one tournament, he had to give up and become a full-time farmer. He gave me this lasso and told me I could whatever I wanted, that this lasso would help me on my way. I left on many adventures when I was fourteen and since then this little beauty has saved my tail feathers many times. Its my most prized possession." The toucan went back to his office chair, and put his box back into his draw.

" That would explain why the criminal was what it was." Donald processed his thoughts as he turned to the door.

"Thank you mayor, if theres any trouble, you know who to call!" Panchito saluted as he too turned towards the door.

" Of course, your father would be proud, Panch." the old bird waved his goodbye.

And with that the party exited the mayor's office and walked out the building. By now the sun was high in the sky, but Sora was quite used to the heat now, finding if his relished in the slight coolness the wind brought and not in the sweltering heat, that he could tolerate it all.

" So, the Dreameater took the shape of a bull because of the past the lasso had with the mayor's dad as a bull-rider." Sora's hands fell on his hips.

" That little guy, who summoned it, must have known of the mayor's powerful emotions it held. And tha's what gave the bull so much power." Donald finished, stopping in a bit ahead of the others, tapping a foot.

" Is my world safe now?" Panchito then butted in, looking between the duck and boy; they were talking technical apparently about the monster, losing his interest rather fastly.

" Yeah, there shouldn't be any more nightmare problems, but still, keep on the safe side and tell the sheriff to patrol carefully. Sometimes the smaller spirits are left behind and cause a little trouble." The young man turned his attention to the rooster who now smiled at the news.

" Now what?" he asked once more, curious as to what happened now that his world seemed to be awake now.

" We got ourselves anotha' world to save." Goofy pointed a gloved hand to himself and smiled.

Panchito looked shocked and interested at the news of his friends leaving. " Really now, amigos?" he grinned and placed his hands on his hips. " Hope you do not mind me tagging along! I wouldn't mind going on another adventure! This was muy fun!"

Donald looked to Panchito, not at all shocked that the bull-rider would want to join them; the rooster was one of the many reasons why the duck was always in some sort of predicament. Sora on the other hand was curious and happy to be offered a new companion on the new adventure.

" Really, Panchito?! You wanna join us?"

" Of course mi pelo de punta amigo! I'm always looking for fun times! And now that my home is safe, I don't see why I can not join you on a little adventure!" The rooster laughed full-heartedly.

The keybearer looked to his other two companions for a sign of approval; Goofy smiled, while Donald rolled his eyes and looked away. Sora knew the magician well enough to understand the eye-roll as a "yes".

" _**Good job, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Panchito, on defeating the evil spirit." **_Yen Sid then connected their minds together and thought-spoke. Panchito jumped back, baffled at the deep voice in his head.

" _**Its okay, Panch, it's our master who sent us here, Master Yen Sid." **_Donald mentally explained. " _**Master, how are we gonna get to the next world?" **_

" _**Seeing how there are too many of you, I have prepared a dream version of your Gummi ship to transport you through the dream space." **_

" _**Thats great! Where is it?" **_Sora looked up to the sky.

" _**I will teleport you into the ship since it is in space currently. And do not worry about parking it when landing, my magic will disguise and hide it." **_ And with that the powerful broke his mind spell and was gone.

" Wow, that was loco!" Panchito had both hands on his head. "Does he do that all the time?"

"No, but this is a special cause, normally he wouldn't contact us on an adventure unless it was dire...And this sort is." The brunette laid out a palm to answer his new friend.

"Enough chatter! We gotta go to the next world!" Donald turned to them, his brow furrows.

" I wonder what other world is asleep." Sora pondered out loud, making the duck mad at his time wasting; didn't he just say enough chatter?  
" Gwarsh, Donald knows, right? Master Yen Sid did say you were familiar with who tha' worlds would be! And you know Panchito, so..." Goofy reasoned with a finger under his chin.

" Well, Donald?" The keybearer raised a brow to the magician.

Panchito had been thinking as well, letting his mind run over who he knew Donald knew... If he was the one who needed help this time, and the wizard-fellow had said Donald would know the worlds, and there was the two of them, two great pals...Then...They were missing another!

" Donald! I know who it is! Aye Yi Yi!" His smile turned into a worried frown.

" Yeah, Panchito, I sorta guessed that place too once we met up." The duck sighed irratably; it wasn't that he didn't love his friends, but it was a bit tiring to save worlds, more specifically it was tiring to SUDDENLY be saving worlds when he was sleeping.

" Where are we going?!" Sora looked between the two birds, confused like mad with Goofy on the whole situation.

Donald looked up to Sora's blue eyes, a bit of a smile on his beak.

" We're going to Brazil."

_**Author's Note:**_

_A nice, long, chapter for this update! I could have finished earlier today, but I kept getting distracted, as I always do.  
_

_But on another note, we end this chapter with a good way to start the next and set up for our final world! **Rio de Janeiro**! Where our classy, swagger-filled parrot lives! But of course he isn't always in his yellow suit and being classy, at home he's a lazy, debt-owing, smart alec, Brazilian who gets in a bunch of shenanigans for a free meal._

_Thanks for the reviews! Really help my writer's block and motivates me :D_

_And once again, this chapter was not beta'd, and I only went through it once, so there may be many mistakes, pardon that :/_

_Until next chapter, Eccy is out! And any questions or more praises where I can reply, even anonymous ones, you can find my tumblr on my profile page!_

_~ 3/17/13 _


	4. Three birds and a problem

"You know how to fly a ship, Donald?" Panchito was hanging over the top of the driver's seat, his face in his palms; the front window in front was so huge and an amazing sight. They sped past stars, black space, and what looked to be meteors!

The duck was leaning back against his chair, both hands on the steering wheel; his blue eyes were staring intently at the path before him, wary of any obstacles they had to avoid.

"It's just like drivin' a car, but you just have to avoid obstacles. Danm dream eaters also cause trouble on the way to new worlds."

"But its more fun flying through the road than in a ship." Sora was slouched in his seat behind the driver's seat; Panchito looked back over his shoulder to the brunette, more than intrigued now.

"Really, chico?" The rooster then pulled himself up onto the seat and sat on top of it much to Donald's annoyance.

"Oh, yeah! Thats how me and Riku did it last night on our earlier journey." the young man then sat up straighter with a smile.

"Gwarsh, Donald! That was a close one!" Goofy sat sideways on his own chair with a finger pointing at the front window.

"Shutup! I saw that stupid meteor!"

For the next hour or so it was like this: Sora telling Panchito of his and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam, and Donald discussing (though it sounded more like arguing) with Goofy about his driving. The only other person who could perhaps hear them was sitting at his desk back in the Mysterious Tower, but he was softly dozing off at the moment; being a powerful wizard didn't mean sleep eluded him.

"Sora, you look tired, chico. por qué es eso?"

The boy in question was now slouched in his chair with a fist squishing his falling cheek; story time had actually made him tired. The inquisition made his chest flutter in panic. He didn't want to talk about the horrible nightmares he was having, it wasn't really all that bad (of course he was lying to himself). The inner teen in him was what kept the young man from talking or telling anybody about them. It just seemed like a small problem he could take care of by himself (of course this was a lie as well).

"I'm cool, Panch, don't worry." Sora smiled casually to hide his lie. Amber eyes looked at him pointedly, narrowing and staring hard as if seeing through the human's false words. There was silence that made the boy worry, but then it was broken:

"Okay, then!" The rooster smiled and slapped his hands down on his knees and walked over to his own chair beside Donald's. Sora exhaled a breath of relief, silently of course, and continued to doze off in hopes it would replace his sleep deprivation.

The rooster of course did not buy the boy's lie. He wasn't a stranger to distress and inner turmoil, he had faced it many times before. But why was Sora so distant about the subject? He didn't seem like the type to hold his pain inside to eat him away. It must be something personal? Panchito didn't know him too well, yet, and kept thinking the same question. What was eating his human companion, and what could he do to help?

"Donal', Sora is troubled, but I do not why." He turned to his duck friend. If anyone knew Sora, it would be his long-time allies.

Donald gave a glance behind his shoulder, seeing that the boy of topic was dozing off in his chair, which wasn't too like him. Usually the kid was jumping off the walls or at least wide awake. It was quite troubling.

"I'm not too sure why either, Panch. Usually he's as hyper as you are." The duck commented, turning his attention back to the space before him. There was nagging feeling of paternal worry in the back the duck's head now, and he groaned mentally at his soft side causing this.

"What happened at the end of his adventure before?"

"Lets just say he didn't pass the exam, but Riku did."

Panchito pressed one elbow onto the arm-chair and slumped his chin into his palm. The poor boy must be taking the failure hard then.

* * *

Jose Carioca strolled the streets of Rio de Janeiro with no worries. It was beautiful today, the sun beaming as always and everyone enjoying their free afternoons. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Jose whistled a tune, until, of course, something ruined it.

The new tune joining in his whistling was fast and repetitive. It started out far away, but there was no mistake that it was coming closer. The parrot's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed with annoyance, he tried shrugging his shoulders over his ears to drown out the song.

It was no use, the little pest was now running circles around him.

"Pássaro estúpido." He muttered as his eyes glared daggers at the Aracuan bird. The red-headed bird just grinned and continued to sing his song.

The little annoyance had been harassing Jose for awhile now, popping out of nowhere when he wasn't wanted, bothering the parrot and his companions all the time. Why him, Jose would never know; shouldn't the bird be in the jungles? Well, actually, he had heard about a group of teens going around the town, and among the descriptions was a "Red-headed, crazy boy."

"Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like with your new friends?" The parrot sneered, though he tried to keep back from sounding too mean; he didn't want to hurt the little guy's feelings that badly.

The aracuan shook his head, red hair flying about, and went on skipping behind his green companion with a goofy grin. Jose groaned, but continued onwards...Until he spotted a sparkling dot in the sky, coming down fast like a rocket. Fearing the worst for his home (and wanting to get rid of the Aracuan) he sped off after the speck of light, hoping to find its soon to be landing spot.

* * *

Sora place his hands behind his head, looking around the alley they had landed in. It seemed like any other alley he had seen dirty, thrown away old mattresses and a few crates; it really brought back Roxas's memories of Twilight Town, which cause them both some heart ache.

Sora looked back to Panchito who was fixing his giant sombrero, Donald who had shrunk his spell book to fit his pocket, and Goofy who journeyed out their current, secluded, area.

"Gwarsh, its just as hot here like back in Panch's home." The warrior noted, but was not complaining. The heat wouldn't bring down his mood, unlike with Sora now.

The young man was already fanning himself with his hands and had removed the gloves off them.

"Okay, I don't know which is hotter, but I am glad for wearing shorts."

"Oh, stop it Sora, lets go find our next companion." Donald marched past the boy and warrior with Panchito right behind him.

"Aye Carumba! Rio is such a lovely place! Look! Free shoes!" He pointed up to a telephone line with a pair of sneakers tied at the laces hanging off. The rooster chuckled a bit at that, finding it funny. His duck companion seemed to catch on to the joke and rolled his blue eyes; they were not as much free as they were decorative.

Exiting the alley and standing on the sidewalk, the group looked around at the street signs.

"I wonder if we can just call him..." Donald muttered, seeing a pay-phone across the busy street they stood on. Of course since adventuring in the many worlds, he had given up such a thing as his cellphone and only got use it when in his main world. The duck stuck a foot out to cross the street, but quickly pulled it back in time before a motorcyclist could run him over.

"Woah!"

The other three quickly placed a hand on Donald's back, keeping him from falling back, and bared their teeth in worry. "Let's stay to the sidewalk." Goofy stared at the road, as if it were an ugly-thing.

And so with that notion agreed on the pack continued on down the path, careful to not crowd the narrow walk-way so others could pass. The whole place was filled with people, of multiple species, wearing tanks and shorts, smiling and chattering; this place really made Sora miss his own and his nobody's homes. They were so familiar in scenery, architect and community. Sora watched a few young boys kick around a soccer ball around as they ran around them. A pair of twin, green, parakeets hogged the ball, being called by their other friends in a language Sora did not know. They passed by him, splitting up to go around the young man and passing the ball back and forth between them.

It reminded him of Blitz ball, the game he had grown up; Wakka was a good Blitzer, he even had his own team to compete with in the game season."Im getting really nostalgic here, next thing I know I'll be thinking about Struggling..."

They kept walking down the street, it soon turning down into a steep slope, making walking a bit more dangerous.

"Wish I had a skateboard here with me, this would be great to ride down!" Sora looked down to his feet to stay safe.

"You'd probably crash, a-hyuck!" Goofy teased, causing the human to look defiant with his cheeks puffed up.

"Hey! Would no-OT!" Suddenly there was a surged of people coming by, cheering and causing a commotion. Music did not take long to join the new ruckus, causing any sort of talking to become barely audible even at yelling volume.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Cried Donald as he shoved his palms into his ears.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Sora cried, copying the same position as the duck; he saw his beak move, but could not hear his voice (which was shocking since EVERYONE usually heard Donald).

"I THINK THEY'RE HAVING A FIESTA!" Panchito screamed, but the only word that was heard or read from his lips was 'fiesta'.

Sora was being pushed back down, and the little huddle the four had made to stay close was being torn away. He reached out a hand to grab Panchito, but his slim fingers slipped away from the leather vest. Seeing their companion was missing, Goofy, Donald and Panchito quickly looked up to see the boy trying to jump over a mass of people in costumes.

"Aye Carumba! Sora!" The rooster tried to make his way through, but got caught in the crowd. He grabbed the first color of what he thought was Donald's shoulder and was lucky enough to be correct.

"WAK!" Donald suddenly grabbed on to Goofy's vest, not knowing what had grabbed him. The two were pulled by Panchito as he was being pushed around the crowd of bodies. The heat even became worst with the sweating bodies together all mashed up.

Sora meanwhile was still trying to surf the crowd. His feet touched the floor, tangling up with a million of other's own. He fell back, losing his balance, and was sure he would be trampled. His arms went up to protect his head, almost summoning the keyblade. He had sworn he felt something clamp around his shoulder and hoped it was his friends there to save him, but he couldn't make assumptions until the noise died down.

He did not feel any pain except when he hit the floor, nothing came down on him as he thought. Opening his eyes the young man knew he was on his back, but the crowd was not around him. He instead saw only one bird behind him, looking down with big, hazel eyes. Soon the music started to die down as it continued down the street and conversation could be heard better.

"Thanks for saving me!" Sora had to keep his voice raised to be heard best. He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck that was a bit sore from his fall.

"Nenhum problema, meu amigo!" The bird happily proclaimed loudly enough for the human to hear. Seeing the grimacing face on the boy, he then knew that his language was not understood. "No problem, my friend." He translated with a smile.

Sora sighed in relief, happy that his new friend knew English even if with a strong accent; Like Panchito, he thought...

"My friends! They're still in the crowd! We need to go save them, we have important thing we need to do immediately!" The young man then jumped to his feet.

"I'll help! You foreigners can get sucked into the crowds so easily!" The bird quickly ran out of the alley they had been in, Sora hot on his heels.

"Funny, he wears sneakers, I didn't think birds did. Donald doesn't, Panch neither...And then Donald's uncle wears those weird things...I've never seen Daisy's feet...I think she wears heels." Sora mused to himself as they races after the descending party. The slope of the street gave them extra speed, and the young man realized the area was perfect for flow motion!

"Stay here! I'll be back with my friends!" The Keybearer ran ahead, eyes set on a lower-ledged building that looked to be a sort of storage.

"But, menino-!" The bird couldn't finish the sentence because his bottom beak had fallen and would not obey his slowed down to better see the young human jump up against a tin roof's edge, and then gain even more air. The boy grabbed onto one of the cable poles, swinging around it and jumping off forward and ahead.

"Meu Deus..."

Sora continued to scale the buildings, keeping his leverage in the air so he wouldn't fall into the mass of people and get trapped once more. He saw Panchito First: his brows were furrowed and beak clenched tight as he tried to keep above everyone. Sora looked around his surroundings, thinking of a good away to save the rooster. He took a deep breath, slowing down his beating heart, and squatted down on the front of a store, creating tension in his legs and pushed off with a gust of wind.

"Panch!" The boy reached his arms out as he started to flip over. The red bird barely had to look up or raise his hands before Sora grasped on to his sleeves and pulled. They landed on a patio not to far from the ground.

"Thanks, amigo!" Panchito slapped his friend on the shoulder and grinned.

"Right! Wait for these people to pass and then get down. Theres a green bird right behind me, stay with him." Sora said before jumping off the roof to get the other two.

"Green bird?" Panchito looked off to the back of the crowd as he was left alone.

Saving Goofy was easy since the dog was relaxing on top of the crowd as if it were a bed; Donald was the most difficult since he was throwing a temper tantrum and it was not helping him keep above everyone. But the two were saved within a few minutes and everyone was just meeting up as the party was fading down the street.

The keybearer leaned over his knees, breath heavy and fast with weariness. "It wouldn't have (Pant) Been so hard (pant) if you weren't having a (pant) bitch (pant) fit (pant) Donald!"

The duck glared death at the young man, catching his own breath by leaning back against a wall with his head leaning back. "I am, ha, gonna, ha, murder you, ha, ha." he panted back.

"Now fellas." Goofy was about to be the peacemaker again.

"Donaldo! Look who Sora found!" Cried Panchito as he ran towards them with a waving arm.

"Donal!"

"Joe!" The magician grinned and waved a hand, still too tired to move. He didn't need to, the green bird ran right up to the duck, and trapped him into a big bear hug that lifted the tired bird and shook him.

" It is, how you Americans say, been forever!"

"Joe, can't...Breathe...!" Suddenly Panchito joined in the hug, lifting both Jose and Donald into the air.

"We are three once more! How wonderful!"

Sora smiled at the three good friends have their reunion. He could related to them, not having seen a good friend in a long time, it was pretty much the whole premise of the past three years on his adventures. He looked to Goofy, both wearing the same smile.

Once the three birds were done hugging and kissing each other on the cheeks, they stood in a row to the human and dog- Goofy had also been given a big hug.

"Sora, this is Jose Carioca, mine and Panch's third companion. He's who we're looking for."

"Hey, Jose!" The young man raised a hand in greeting.

"Ola, Sora! And where are you from?" The parakeet took the hand and shook it like mad, making the taller human have to bend down. Sora grinned at the crazy handshake, being reminded of Panchito's own not too long ago.

"Errr, from a little island, nothing too big like this place, ha, ha!" He quickly lied as he rolled his shoulder to gain feeling back in it again from the shake.

" Oh, sim, sim, I understand, no wonder your so tan and skinny! Do you play soccer, with those big feet you'd think, ha, ha!" Jose reached into his pocket and pulled out a black case. Opening it he grabbed a cigar and placed the case back into his jeans (weirdly enough, it did bulge in the small space, but was lost in the pocket).

"Joe! I thought you quit!" Donald scolded, poking a finger into Jose's shoulder. the green bird placed the cigar in his beak and shrugged nonchalantly. This made the duck grumbled and cross his arms impatiently, tapping a foot.

"Oh, Jose, you scoundrel, always making Donal unhappy." Panchito clicked his tongue teasingly and shook his head.

The parrot grinned impishly, taking the cigar out from between his beak and striking it up against Donald's head, making the duck even more mad.

"Hey! Stop that!"

Smoke drifted up into the air and was inhaled by Jose who closed his eyes in bliss at the taste. He blew out the smoke in rings and sighed contentedly.

"Oh, Donal, Panchi, it has truly been too long meus amigos." He then turned to Sora and Goofy.

"But welcome! My home is in celebration! Carnival is not too long away! And everyone is happier than can be!" He raised his free hand -not holding the cigar - up in a grand gesture.

"I've never seen you in sneakers..."

"Nor a cap, amigo. You look quite ruggedly handsome."

"What does he usually wear?"

"Oh, Joe dresses all fancy in America, you could take some gentleman tips from him, Sora."

"A-hyuck! That'd be new!"

"Hey! Okay, everyone stop! We have bigger issues here." The young man raised his hands and gave everyone a stern face. This was not what they had come for, and he did not need the embarrassment.

"Whats wrong Donal? What are these issues the boy speaks of?" Jose tapped some ash off the tip of his smoke.

Contemplating a good lie, the duck quirked the sides of his beak and squinted up to the blue sky. "Weelllll-" Before he could talk, a sudden song was heard coming down the street. Thinking it might have been another parade, Sora, and Goofy got ready to run for it. The two looked to Donald, Panchito and Jose, in confusion since they just stiffened and looked wide-eyed to the source of such a weird sound.

"Oh, god, Joe...That isn't who I think it is, right?"

Jose had shut his eyes tight, his brow wrinkling with anger and annoyance, even his shoulders hunched up with his hands pressed against his skull. Truly Sora had never seen anyone but Donald look so mad and irritated.

" Oh, man, this is not going to end well." Panchito rolled his eyes and sighed; he would be lying if he said that annoying song coming the down street was not a bad omen.

Trotting down the road was the most weirdest creature the human had ever seen. It had the most wildest red hair, more so than Cloud's, and a long beak from which the weird melody was coming out of. Within seconds it had seemed to gain velocity and was charging at Sora, a dirt cloud behind it's bird-feet. The young man did not what to do with so little time to jump out of the way, all he could do was lift up his arms across in front and grimace.

The impact was not what anyone expected. The bird had jumped and wrapped his wings around the boy's neck, and his arms in turn wrapped around the red-feather body. Sora opened his eyes hesitantly. There was a moment as both the bird and human stared at one another, blinking one after the other. The bird leaned it's head against his shoulder and grinned madly. The keybearer awkwardly pulled away a bit.

"Eerrrrr...Hi?"

Suddenly there was a big smooch sound and Sora blanched, the bird jumping out of his arms, onto the boy's head and into Donald's arms.

"Oy! You stupid bird! Get outta here!" Jose glared death at it, and making shooing gestures with his shoulders still hunched; no good could come from the duck and crazy-bird being so close.

"Don't you dare do what I think your about'a!" Donald warned, pulling his face away from the bird in his arm; he had tried to drop it, but his arms were almost glued!

Panchito, Goofy and Sora leaned forward, waiting expectantly at what would happen next. obviously something was going to cause either a big explosive by the duck or some other big thing.

The bird battered his -suddenly- long lashes, looked bashfully away, raising a hand to his beak and then charged forward.

"WAGH!"

"A-hyuck!"

"Oh my light!"

"WOAH! This is a PG-13 rated fanfiction! Ay carumba!"

"Você pouco pervertido!"

And then the red bird was off, singing once more and jumping all around. Sora and Goofy watched curiously as it disappeared down the street and from sight. They looked back to Donald who as furiously wiping his beak clean, sputtering all the while.

"I swear to god if I see that bird again I'll skin him alive!" He stuck out his tongue.

"That loco bird has been stalking me for a month now!" Jose shoved his hands in his pocket and slouched over. It was now that he realized the cigar in his beak was missing as one hand raised to remove it. He scoffed.

" Who was that?" Sora shoved a thumb behind him where the bird had ran off.

"The Aracuan bird! He's a loco." Panchito twirled a finger around his temple and rolled his eyes. The young human raised his cheeks and wrinkled his nose, a bit afraid now.

"He's a big pest who does nothing but make my life hell!" Donald quacked in a rage, his feathers standing on their ends.

Jose nodded in agreement, eyes closed and his brows down. "He has been making my life hell as of recently. I hear about these kids having fun and that crazy bird running along with them. I don't know who can stand him for long."

Sora looked to Goofy who just shrugged. "I've met him before, back at the House of Mouse, but he was okay to me."

"Bleh! He's a faker!" Donald stomped a foot. He then closed his blue eyes and took a deep breath to calm down.

"Anyways my amigos!" Panchito wrapped his arms around around Donald, Jose, Sora and Goofy. "We have bigger things to be mad about! There is un monstruo on the loose!"

Jose raised a brow curiously, "o quê?"

Donald wiggled out of the embrace, popping out behind the close knit group. He patted down his clothes and fixed his sailor hat.

"This place is in danger, Joe, and we need your help since you know Rio better than any of us."

"Really? That is insane, Donal'."

"Its true, amigo! I saw one of the monsters with my own eyes! And we defeated it!"

"There has been nothing more than the usual crimes here. Are you, as the Americans say, pulling on my legs?" The green bird squinted his eyes suspiciously.

The duck placed his hands on his hips. "Joe, we're not lying, your home is in danger!"

"You should tell him what you told me, Donaldo." The red bird elbowed his friend softly in the arm. The white bird nodded, crossing his arms; Yen Sid wouldn't mind Jose knowing, he concluded.

As the three birds and dog talked, Sora wandered off. He made sure not to go too far away, knowing Donald and Goofy would get worried- plus he didn't want another incident like when he Riku and Kairi went to Twilight Town a few weeks back. He had gotten on the wrong train at the station and accidentally went to the beach instead of Sunset.

He looked to one of the many poles that lined the street; lights hung from them and mixed wiring stretched to pole on the other side. It did not look safe, but it reminded him of the ones in Traverse Town. He followed up three poles and looked back to his friends.

"Afraid you'll get lost, little boy?"

Sora whipped around, looking in all directions for the voice when he didn't see it right in front of him. He finally looked down and saw the short person from the world before. Their face was covered by the big hood of it's cloak; if this person was not trying to kill him, Sora would have thought him cute.

"Who are you?" Might as well start easy; from experience, the keybearer knew he shouldn't ask so many questions at once.

"Who I am is of no importance, right now." His voice was young and obviously male. He looked to the left and Sora followed his gaze. There was an alley way. Oh, no, they were not entering there!

"Come along, Keybearer, I wish to show you something." The boy walked into it, boots clacking against the cement. Sora would have none of that and took a few steps back.

"Your trying to kill me! Why would I follow you?" He turned and called for the others, but they did not notice. After a few more failed tries, Sora furrowed his brows and snapped his glare to the boy- obviously it was his doing no one could hear him.

"Follow me, and I promise you'll be reunited with your friends." The cloaked figure raised a hand and gestured for the taller boy to follow. Puffing his cheeks, Sora followed briskly, hands pulled into fists and shoulders hunched. He looked up at the plastered walls and trash all around, then at the boy's back. He walked erect, each step elegantly taken.

"Where are we going? This is a long alley."

His guide did not answer, but stopped and pointed a finger upward. There was a railing at the end which they peered over. The sun by now was low, almost halfway past the horizon. The view below was of the town, enjoying the hot day and lovely evening. The citizens all crowded the sidewalks, talking and singing, making a beat that gave the place a good vibe. Sora admired the happy way everyone kept, watching as the street lights started to turn on one by one.

"Soon there would be a party, and the citizens will have fun." The little figure leapt up onto the railing, balancing perfectly on the thin metal.

"So? You gonna go join them? Or do you need an adult to attend with?" Sora snickered, gripping the railing.

"heh," The boy didn't turn his covered gaze from the view before them. "Always the quick one with a witty response, Sora."

"Listen, I love this bonding time, but I should get going."

"Silly boy, I brought you here to enjoy this last moment of peace with this beautiful scene,"

"Woah!" The keybearer quickly took a step back and lifted his arms, prepared to fight. "What do you mean, boy?"

The cloaked figure rotated his head slightly, lifted a hand up to the edges of his hood, and allowed his blue isrises to show with his round cheeks. So he was a young boy!

He then lifted his other hand and snapped his fingers. "I don't plan on letting you live, keybearer. Once your gone from this life, I can take over."

The floor rumbled and shook like an earthquake. Everything trembled, glass rattled and broke, poles fell over, and anything not secured were sent sprawling over the floor. Sora backed up, summoning his keyblade, looking all around for the cause of the quake. It always seemed like the enemy caused a ruckus.

"Why get rid of me?! What can you take over?!"

"Easy, your being, that power and my destiny!" The monster appeared from behind the cloaked boy; it was a ginormous bird of some sort with a jester hat on it's head. The feathers were a gold color with red tips, and the eyes were black. The claws were sharp and long, and it's wings were wide, with each flap there was a strong gust of wind. On the monster's breast laid the Nightmare symbol.

The boy jumped back off the railing, onto the bird's head and sat down casually. He shot out a finger and commanded it to attack. With a deafening roar the bird shot up into the air with a BOOM shaking the earth once more. Sora ran out of the alley way and into his friends.

"Sora!"

"Where have you been?"

"NO TIME TO TALK! MET THE CLOAKED BOY, BIG MONSTER AFTER US!"

The sky darkened into the shadow of a bird, and everyone looked up. The nightmare covered the sun with it's wide wing-span and cawed before nose-diving toward them.

"RUN!" The five quickly turned around and scurried in the opposite direction. A gust from those powerful wings knocked them over luckily, and they quickly pulled up and soared but a few feet above.

Sora lifted his head up in awe that it could have been cut off if it weren't for the wind. Suddenly he was being pulled by the ear and chastised.

"The hell happened?! I leave you for a few minutes and suddenly you're gone!" Donald yelled, pinching the boy's ear as he would his own nephew's. "And look who you bring with you! A monster!"

"It wasn't -ahh!- my fault! I was abducted!" Yeah, that seemed like the word- he didn't have much of a choice when the boy practically threatened him if Sora did not follow.

"By who?" Jose laid his chin in his palms, as if he was used to being on the floor.

"The boy! The one who was there back in Panchito's world who summoned the Nightmare!"

The ground shook once more as the monster landed. Sora glared up at the boy who stood calmly on top of the beast's head, looking down on them as if they were ants.

"We need to defeat the boy first." The keybearer summoned his blade.

"No! Its too dangerous here! The people will get hurt!" Jose quickly jumped up to his feet, spreading out his arms.

Sora slumped over, realizing the truth to the green-bird's words. The whole area was squished and narrowed, it would be easy for someone to get hurt.

"So what do we do? We don't have a lot of time on our hands." Donald quickly brought his tiny spell-book, tapping it twice, causing it's size to turn back normal.

"I will give you near a hour to claim a battleground, if not, I will start to destroy the buildings." The boy on top of the monster called out to them. There was a moment of silence as everyone in the party stared at the boy in anger.

Suddenly Jose grinned and clapped his hands. Of course Vila Xurupita had one enormous soccer field for the team. It was one of the only open areas close by, and it was way too late for the kids to be out and playing.

"Follow me! The soccer field is open!" He quickly took off down the street.

"Wait up Joe!" Donald scurried after his friend.

" Vamanos, amigos!" Panchito seemed the most enthusiastic about the whole situation.

"Hurry Sora!" Goofy scampered off as well, leaving the young boy behind.

He looked back at the beast who was not moving. His blue eyes looked up to the cloaked boy who was still calmly sitting, looking comfy on top of the bird's head. Sora wanted nothing more but to smack the kid hard.

* * *

Jose quickly made a detour to his house, skidding to a halt as he almost passed the fence. He vaulted over it, too much in a rush to unlock it for his friends.

"Hold on a sec', I need to get my umbrella! Just catch your breath." He called over his shoulder.

Donald skidded to a halt, Panchito pressing against his back and Goofy right behind. Sora jogged up beside them, kicking his knees up high.

"What is he getting?" The human questioned, squinting his eyes; if Jose really did say 'Umbrella' then that would be even more confusing.

"His magical umbrella!" Panchito leaned his back against the fence door.

The door slammed shut, causing the four to lift their gaze to Jose. He strolled on off his front porch, twirling his cream-colored umbrella in one hand. There was a bit of a different air to him now, a smirk replacing the goofy smile Sora had seen on him before.

The parrot opened the front gate, Panchito moving behind it as he did so, and shut it with a kick of his heel.

"We need'a hur-" A green finger was placed over Donald's beak, shutting him up. Slightly annoyed with his brows furrowing, the duck huffed.

"Um momento, meu patinho." Jose then took a few steps away from the party, the four crowding close in, eyes set on their friend. Panchito and Donald could only guess their Brazilian friend was going to do something showy,as Sora and goofy had not any a clue; of course Goofy could have guessed, but he rather liked to be surprised.

Jose stretched out his umbrella to the side, reached his free hand over to push the head up, but quickly swung it forward before letting it flash open. His little crowd leaned forward, trying to see over and around the open parasol. With a loud 'FLAP!' it was closed and the parrot was in view. He stood there in new attire that Sora had never seen.

Instead of a tee, jeans, sneakers and a cap, Jose was now in a matching cream colored suit and hat to his umbrella. It was a big change to the young man who did not think -or had the time to since just meeting him- Jose could be so...Suave! So this was what Donald and Panchito were talking about earlier when they recommended the gentleman tips.

"let us hurry!" The Brazilian swung his umbrella over one shoulder and ran off once more.

"Wait! How did you change so fast?!" Sora ran after his friend with the other three right behind them.

"Magic of course!" Jose chuckled melodiously.

The keybearer nodded, his eyes locked in awe that the bird could already do magic. Donald ran up beside the boy.

"Not OUR kind of magic, Sora, he means weak Black Magic." He said.

Before anyone could continue the conversation -Jose was about to ask what Donald was talking about- a roar deafened them. Flying over head was the Nightmare with his master still on his head. They passed on ahead, their direction the same as the party's.

"Let's hurry! Our friend is getting impatient!" Panchito took the lead, red eyes determined.

* * *

In reply for reviews, I am not bringing in any characters, but one, from the comics, but putting in references, like I did for Zico and Zeca in this chapter, but even then, there won't be much.

I also do like Ze's girlfriend, Rosinha, but mostly because of the lovely fanart of her on deviant; theres also always great potential for her in fanfiction ;D

That one character I'm bringing? Most likely Nestor, but not for long, just a scene towards the end of Jose's arc.

And if anyone's wondering, Senor Martinez is in the Gummi ship, chillin' somewhere on there.

6/5/13


	5. Unanswered questions

_**Notes: **__School is back up, and wow it's more tiring since I'm taking an AP class and it being my Junior year! But then my biggest weakness is my procrastination to do other things like blog, watch anime, and write other fics._

_I'm really into Paperinik New Adventures, the Italian comic book about Donald Duck's alter ego The Duck Avenger / PK (Paperinik) / Superduck (In the third series official translation). I prefer Duck Avenger since its more constant with the costume and character, but PK is the true name. Its a really good comic series that has been translated by an awesome group of people on the Duckavenger blogspot! You should all read it if you love Marvel/DC like themes, things that go beyond Disney (like some swear words,character deaths, deep backstories, and dark themes!), and just great comics in general! _

_So, I want to finish this fic soon, in hopefully one chapter and include an epilogue in either that one chapter, or create a whole second chapter for the epilogue. And after that, I will start a new Donald fic based off PKNA which crosses over with Kingdomhearts as well, even with the 3 Caballeros._

_WARNING! __I have new beta-reader for this fic right now, and I've been VERY tired lately! I did not thoroughly double read this, meaning there will be a lot of errors, perhaps a missing word, or messed up sentence, if so, don't be afraid to tell me! Or, if you're a free person and would like to help me out, I'm open for a Beta-reader for the last chapter(s)! I do it over Google docs, so I will need your Gmail, and I'll share the document with you. Or you can all wait until I have time to comeback to this and edit it on my own, which would be a long while._

_Thanks for the reviews, and the WHOLE BUNCH of follows and faves! Please review!_

_Also, if you have any good ideas on a design for Panchito's and Jose's new threads, go ahead and put them in the review! ;D_

_And yes, the Aracuan bird will come back next chapter U u U_

* * *

Coming to a halt in front of the group, Sora looked all around the area for their enemy. The soccer field was green and very big with two goalie nets on either side. There was no one there...But a black bird.

"Oy! Nestor!" Jose quickly ran past Sora towards the other bird.

The darker avian looked back over his shoulder from his bent position, apparently picking up trash. He stood up erect and closed the plastic bag in his hands.

" Ei, Zé, onde você esteve? Você deveria me ajudar!" He seemed to scold, raising a finger and shaking it back and forth.

"No time! You need to-"

"What is with all the English Ze And that suit...?" Thats when Nestor spotted Sora, Donald and Goofy who ran up to them.

"Who're your friends?"

"Ah, err..."Jose looked back and jumped slightly at how close the other three were against his back. "These are my friends. You know Donald and Panchito, I've told you about them."

"Who wouldn't know about O Pato Donald?!" Nestor grabbed Donald's hand and shook it like mad. The duck tolerated it, trying to keep his body straight from being jerked too hard.

"Ze talks nothin' but you at times! He is a school-girl crushing on you whe-"

"SHUT UP!" Jose quickly slapped a hand around the other bird's beak. "Sora, Donal', Goofy, Panch, this is Nestor, my good friend who is leaving now!" He then push the black bird away.

"But the trash, Ze. We signed up for volounte-"

"Listen, you need to leave, now! There's this monster about to-"

Nestor bursted into laughter, interrupting the green bird's words - nearly doubling over his knees. "A monster? Oy, Ze, you are being silly and a liar again. You must stop lying just to get out...Of...Work..." A screeching caw was heard from not a mile away, and the wind started to pick up, causing the trees and grass to rustle.

"Oh no, it's here." Sora summoned out his Keyblade, going into a guard stance in front of the others.

The black bird jumped back at the sudden magic and weird weapon, but became even more shocked when a dark shadow covered the sun. He looked up, placing a hand over his eyes to keep what little sun that was left out of his view, and let his jaw drop. The giant Nightmare bird was blocking out the sun, only another hour or so away from disappearing.

Nestor looked to Jose with wide, fear-filled eyes, and tried to speak, but no words came out, only a few squawks.

"Go, leave now! Hide! Just get out of the field and go to my house! I will see you after I beat that thing!" The green bird waved his hands in a shoo'ing motion and then took his friend by the shoulders, pushing him away.

"Y-You, defeat that? You are Loco Ze!" The other allowed himself to be push, dragging the garbage bag behind him.

"Don't worry Nestor!" Donald smugly grinned.

"Ze has us to help him!" Panchito then pointed a thumb confidently to his chest with the same grin.

Nestor burrowe his eyes in worry, not at all convinced with those words. But he had no other choice to take their enthusiasm as hope, and nodded slowly. Once Jose had stopped pushing, he quickly sped off to the shabby house not too far off, his sneakers kicking up dust. Only once did he look to see his best friend and the other four banded together, looking on as the beast came closer.

"So we are just going to attack it head on?" Jose held a tight grip on his umbrella, holding it up like a fencing sword.

"Yup, pretty much! How else are we gonna take it so suddenly?" Donald readied his spell book, flipping the pages quickly.

"We could strategize? We have another minute or so." The green bird then let his parasol fall slightly and his shoulders ease.

"...Okay then, a quick game plan!" Goofy smiled, standing up from his crouched position.

Sora looked behind his shoulder, nodding with a fierce face. "It's a giant bird, and it seems to be an air type,"

"Can't we scan it or somethin', Donaldo?" Panchito then spoke up over the sudden roar of wind that was whipping everything.

"Don't you remember the scan ability, Sora?" The magician raised his staff up to the young man.

"I...I think! I used it before in the dream world, but I don't know how, it was like Yen-Sid made it automatic, but now it hasn't been working. I could...Can't you...There isn't a spell?" He stumbled, now looking to the oncoming nightmare not seconds away. He tried to focus his blue eyes, squinting them, and willing them to read over the enemy, but it was no use, the ability was not activating.

The monster flew over head, causing the five to fly up slightly and fall on their sides as the wind left. It landed a few feet away and screeched once more, deafening them as before.

After it ended, Donald took the chance to stand and run off to a nearby tree. "Fight it, keep it at bay for moment as I look for the scan spell!" It was something of an old cast in the book. Used only for beginners and back-up magicians. The warriors of now used a simple scan ability - an easy thing to learn and teach- but the spell Scan was much more informative, though at the cost of time.

"Be quick, amigo!" Panchito grabbed his pistols and spun them on one finger of each hand. He grinned wickedly, showing his friends he was in the game.

Jose held his umbrella erect and crouched into a lunging position, mocking a fencing pose. He frowned at the monster and young boy on top of it, wondering why they would threaten his home of all places - it wasn't the nicest or richest to be honest. But no matter, he would protect it, for not only was it good, but there were people he had to protect here.

Sora rubbed the back of his head, having hurt it with the short fall. With glance towards the duck franticly looking through his spell-book, the human stood, crouched into his fighting position, and summoned his Keyblade. With a tight grip, he lead the first attack, pulling back his arms as he gained speed; the bird-monster outstretched it's head and took the blow head on, causing a pushing battle between the two. Sora pushed with all his might, feeling his soles dig into the grass and pull up dirt - he couldn't even pull back and ram the blade's side into the beast's head for add on damage because there was so much force between them.

Jose took this chance to run towards Sora, following his sudden instinct to fight. Before he got any closer to the boy, the bird jumped onto the boy's shoulders and a flip that ended with the umbrella smacking the back of the beast's head just before landing on it's neck. It roared in pain and wheeled back, giving Sora the chance to slash at it in an 'X' formation. It screeched up to the sky, causing the two battlers to pull their hands over their ears and fall to their knees.

Panchito aimed a pistol for it's chest while one hand covered his ear, and his shoulder covered the other ear. With a loud _BANG! _The bullet met with the monster's chest, and it fell down onto it's chest. The boy in the black coat grabbed Jose by the upper-arm, tugging him back, then pushed him forward off his pet's back - the bird instead hooked his parasol's hilt around his waist, bringing them both down. Sora meanwhile jumped on the Nightmare's back, and unleashed a fury of attacks while it was down.

Jose grunted and grabbed the cloaked boy by his small shoulders, gripping them tightly so he wouldn't budge.

"I don't want to hit a young boy, but if you keep acting up I wi-!" The bird's sentence was cut short as the boy kicked him right between the legs, and head-butted his beak quite hardly.

"And that will be your demise! Slow to act because of sympathy!" The boy then raised his left hand upwards, charging it with black electricity, and brought it down with as much that his arm could. But before any contact could be made, a gunshot bellowed, and his arm was in sudden pain. The boy grabbed his left shoulder with his right hand, and snapped his head towards Panchito who was blowing off smoke from his gun with a glare. The boy growled deeply in his throat as he gave Jose one last look - the bird had recovered from his pain, and now had the umbrella's hilt wrapped around the boy's neck, pulling him down. With a circular movement to his wrist, the parrot's cream-colored glove shone a soft blue, and he slapped the boy straight across the cheek. When his head lolled back from the sudden strike, it was noticeable that his shadowed cheek had ice growing out of it.

"That...Was cold..." He snarled; the hood had fallen back slightly, the reason why the shadow of his cheek was showing, his eyes were also revealed, icy-blue eyes ironically glaring at the bird.

"Wow, didn't know I could do that, but ok!" Jose stared at his hand for a moment, feeling the coldness that had ebbed into his veins with the sudden power, fade away and turn back to regular color. The boy leaned forward out of the hook around his neck, crouched below it so he wouldn't get caught once more, and shove his enemy hard, away from him.

Panchito ran towards them, firing his bullets madly, but missing the small, cloaked, target, who moved with elegance towards him. The boy went to punch Panchito in the gut, but the rooster side-stepped in front of him, and took him down as they made impact.

Donald grinded his beak together, practically tearing the pages of his spell-book apart in his haste. His friends needed him, and yet all he was doing was looking for a simple spell they most likely didn't need! With his hope fading, he decided that if he couldn't find the spell within the next five pages, he'd give up and just go kick ass like mad. It seemed luck was on his side this time, because just at the third page he flipped, he gasped and quacked.

"Got it! Took some time, but I found it! It was under-"

"DON'T CARE! JUST CAST IT!" Sora cried from on top of the nightmare's head, stilling raging attacks on it. But it didn't seem he was doing much damage but for a few scratches, and it started to shift more and more every second, signaling it's recovery.

The duck furrowed his brows, more in concentration than anger at the young human, and called out the spell: "_olin elee, en vanwa!" _

The magician's eyes turned a hazy blue, and widened as a green plane appeared before only his sight. Green lines seemed to roll over the monster's body, ignoring Sora's body as the focus was not him, and a transparent box appeared with a 3D image of the nightmare. Lines pointed out from spots on it's body, and the weaknesses with abilities suddenly etched into view.

"Wow, this is amazing, it's like theres a computer in my head." Donald mumbled to himself, looking over the information present to his eyes. "Theres a weakness in it's stomach! Watch out! It's getting up." He then ran forward and started to cast gravira on it; as he did so, his eyes wandered over to Panchito in a fist fight on the floor with the cloaked boy. Concentrating on the boy, he tried to scan, but to no avail - the green turned red, and only a 3D image of the cloaked boy appeared with questions marks all around.

The boy felt the burn of a spell, his neck tingling and his body burning - luckily his body was sensitive to magic and warded off any sort of scanning spells. He was currently on top of the red bird, trying to hold it down by it's shoulders. Tired of the petty feud, with a slip of his tongue, a paralyzing spell was casted. As he got up, the boy cursed that he hadn't thought of the spell before, and how it used up a lot of his magic energy. He ran towards his pet, eager to help it up and beat down on the enemies, but most of all to finally finish off the brunette.

Sora heard the running steps of the boy and quickly turned around, bringing up his Keyblade as a guard just in time for a kick to push him back. Looking through his X crossed arms, he saw the boy come closer while raising a hand, simultaneously removing the glove off it. The Keybearer quickly pulled his weapon bearing arm back for a punch, and shot it forward with all his might, hoping to knock the boy back off the nightmare. The other quickly caught his wrist, holding it tightly in his leathered hand - Sora fell to his knees, choking out a cry of pain, his head lifting up.

When the boy's pale skin made contact with older boy's sun-kissed skin, a sudden bolt of pain was lead through Sora's veins, paralyzing him. His eyesight suddenly blinked to darkness, and then back into view, but his body wouldn't obey him and started to weaken. He looked to the boy whose grin was seen behind his hood - his sight flashing between nothingness and blurs. Finally he couldn't take it...And the boy suddenly started to change appearance, from the cloaked figure, to a young boy in shorts and a tee.

They were no longer in the battlefield, but rather the beach. Sora stared up at the blue sky, watching the clouds move on their way across his world to others beyond. What was he doing again? Oh, yeah...Lazing around before he went back to work on the raft...Right?...No, that felt right...He was...

"It's such a nice day."

The young man shot up, looked in the direction of the voice. Not a foot away from him was a cloaked, feminine, figure, overlooking the sea that crawled forward over the tips of her pointed boots.

"You! We were...Ummmm..." Why was it suddenly so hard for him to think? It was like a fog was hazing his brain, and it wouldn't obey his will for it to work properly.

"...Fighting..." The cloaked girl finished for him, turning her shadowed gazed towards him.

"We were...fighting..." he repeated, looking down to his knees.

Her eyes though...They were blue, just like his, just like Roxas's...They were, her's...the dark haired girl's eyes from before, when he had thought she was Namine...They also looked like Namine's eyes...Who had-

"What do you mean? Why were we fighting?"

A sudden look back towards the cloaked girl revealed her to be Kairi, smiling at him in that way she always did. No...Her eyes were Kairi's, but this wasn't his best friend.

"Because...Because you're trying to kill me!" He knew this was right, and that the girl was not her. She tilted her head, read hair cascading over her shoulder, and look quizzical.

A sudden jolt of pain to his head made Sora slammed his palms into his forehead to relieve it. But he couldn't keep his eyes off the enemy - he strained to look back up while applying pressure to his sudden headache, and saw the girl and changed again from Kairi to Namine.

"Are you alright, Roxas?" She reached out a hand to him, but he would have none of that - he smacked it away and staggeringly got to his feet.

"Stop that! Stop changing your form, boy! I know it's you! You're in my head! But I know my friends; I know what's real and what is!"

The Namine look alike frowned, then took on a more sinister glare that absolutely frightened him. Her form glitched green and black, and she stepped forward to him. The Keybearer took a step back with every one of her's, all the while clenching his pulsing skull.

"You're pathetic! Your memories you disgustingly happy! And you...You don't deserve them! Always the happy boy, the one to stay positive! NICE GUYS FINISH LAST! Especially those who think they have it all...Under...Control." The figure was no longer the blond nobody, but instead the cloaked boy, and dark-tentacles were crawling under his feet, ebbing close around him.

Sora grinded his teeth together, and forced his eyes open from their sudden heaviness - he wouldn't lose a battle in his own mind again! He had to focus, and concentrate...The beach scenery blurred together into ugly masses of color, and purple started to bleed into it, causing it all to look like a stormy-night.

"Give in...Give in to me...Let me be the chosen one...Let me take your pain away...Or you will be crushed under it's weight, and we'll both be no more..." The voice was but a hoarse whisper, and it slithered its way into Sora's head, like a contorted lullaby.

"No...NO...NO!" With all his might, and the pictures of his friends in his head to keep him in the light, Sora slashed his arms down and summoned not only his Keyblade, but Oathkeeper as well. With no time to admire the sudden added weapon, he charged forward with a cry of rage, slashing downwards on the boy's body, then up and down from left to right, and finally from either shoulder, downward until both tips met in the middle, continuing downwards.

The boy roared in pain, making the world tremble, and the winds pick up. With one last ounce of strength, he brought down both fists on Sora, the erratic tentacles following suit.

With that, Sora opened his eyes to find himself on his knees before the boy who was now grasping his own head, staggering backwards.

"Sora!"

"Amigo!"

"Chico!"

Cried his friends, rushing towards him; how long had he been in that other world? It seemed nothing had changed since closing his eyes.

Being distracted, Sora did not see the booted-foot coming towards his face, and he was kicked backwards off the nightmare which now, with a roar, and bursted upwards. It's wings flew open, forcing a gust of wind to push the others back.

"Stupid boy!" Cried the cloaked figure, grabbing a hold of his beast's feathers for balance. Now was his chance to gain the upper hand, it was now, or never...

"What in the name of darkness is that noise?"

Donald, Jose, and Panchito stiffened, recognizing the song whose lyrics could not be made out. Everyone looked behind, towards the villa, and saw a brown dust of dirt piling up, seemingly moving towards them. The sound got louder, and so did the tempo.

"Why now, of all times, why now?" Donald groaned, sitting up and turning his eyes to the sky in grief.

Sora sat up, trying to ignore the aching in his back and face from his attack, and squinted his eyes to see who it was. The song was familiar, so much that Sora instantly recognized it and gaped.

Now in view was the Aracuan Bird, charging forward with all his might towards them. His happy, goofy demeanor was now changed into a determined, seemingly mad, one. No one could guess what would happen next, not even the wild bird himself! Finally he raced by the three birds and human, straight to the nightmare, and rammed his against it.

The whole scene seemed to go in slow motion in everyone's monster being pushed back into the air, the cloaked boy being unbalanced and falling forward, and then the Aracuan Bird screeching to a halt. What made everything more incredible was the Nightmare exploding into light, giving it's finally roar before it's death.

Jose pointed a figure at the Aracuan, his mouth gaping; Donald's eye twitched in disbelief that he had just been saved by the most annoying bird he had ever met; Panchito grinned and shot his pistols in the air with a cry of victory; Sora meanwhile ran forward to the little red bird and embraced it.

"Thanks a lot, Aracuan!" He then picked up the bird in a tight hug, then let him fall to the floor. His attention turned to the boy was getting to his feet and dusting off his cloak. He turned away and met Sora's eyes, the two glaring at one another.

"How did you get into my head? Are you the one giving me all those nightmares?!" The brunette pointed his Keyblade at his opponent, narrowing his eyes.

The boy's hand raised to beside his head, and snapped, summoning a dark portal behind him. "Thats none of your concern. Right now you should be asking if our battle will ever be over."

"Hey, he's making a getaway!" Donald stomped a foot forward; if they didn't act fast, their enemy would get away again like they always did.

"Our final battle will be in your final dream world, the jungles of South America, where we will see who is strongest - bring your band of multi-cultured misfits, though its not like they'll be of much use."

And with that the mysterious boy walked backwards into the portal, leaving an angry donald, confused Sora, and enthused Jose, Panchito and Goofy.

"Ay Carumba! The final fight! We can surely win this!" The trigger-happy rooster sheathed his pistols and slapped one knee in excitement.

"It is like a showdown from those westerns!" Jose closed his parasol, leaning over the handle with a thoughtful smile.

"I'm sure we'll win, ya guys!" Goofy grinned, lowering his shield down.

Sora and Donald stood there, unresponsive to their friend's positive attitude. The duck tapped a foot in thought, one hand pinching his beak as the other held his spell-book under his arm. There were so many questions to be asked, yet they had no clues to the answers.

"We need to get in contact with the master, he'll tell us what's up." The human then pressed the bottom of a fist to his open palm in resolution. If anyone knew what in the hell was going on, it was the almighty Yen Sid.

Donald agreed with him, looking to the boy with a determined nod. "Right! Let's get heading to the ship to lea-"

"Wait! I need to go check up on my nephews! I don't know what has happened to them since the battle!" Jose suddenly piped up, raising his umbrella and shaking it. If everyone in the town had felt those earthquakes, then his nephews would have ran home in fear, or out to find him to see if he was ok.

"You're nephews?...Right, lets go to your place real quick and check up on them, then we'll head on over to the new world." Donald understood his friend's concern - having nephews of his own back at home. With a double tap to his book's cover, it shrunk and with a swift motion, his hand was off and the book was dropped inside of it. Squishing the wizard-hat between his hands and then uncrumpling it, the headwear turned into the the original boater hat the duck was known to wear.

Sora let his Keyblade disappear in a blink of an eye, back to the depths of his heart where it was kept hidden; Goofy let his shield disappear the same way. They then walked together off the soccer field and back into town where nothing had changed.

"What about a reward? It happened back at my home when we defeated that toro." Panchito then piped up, having thought there was always a prize at the end.

"Don't know, maybe the boy summoned the monster on a whim or something. Theres not always a reward but for battle-experience." Goofy provided an answer, knowing the most about battles- being the chief of the royal knights, and all.

"I see, I wouldn't have minded a reward for my efforts!" Jose then twirled his umbrella off to the side. "Some money wouldn't have been so bad." He then snickered. If there was one thing the parrot needed, it was some money to pay off his debts.

The others chuckled that their new companion's words, agreeing something to be rewarded would have been nice. Nothing big, or flashy, just something to make them feel appreciated.

"Isn't it reward enough that the town was saved with no damage done?" The duck then raised a brow to Jose, smirking all the while.

"Hahaha! You are right, Donal', I should be grateful no one but us were hurt!" Ze laughed at his foolishness, though he was not so ashamed of his desire of a prize - it was only natural, right?

"Wow, Donald, I wouldn't take you for such a noble hero." Sora joked, raising his arms behind his head to relax better. Usually the duck was all about the rewards, and getting the first place.

Donald rolled his eyes and grunted. "Theres a lot of things you don't know about me Sora."

"..." Sora started to laugh at first, agreeing with his friend, but then realized it was too true. His eyes fell to the narrow sidewalk, suddenly thinking seriously about those words. He was at a lost to who Donald really was, all he knew was that the duck was a magician and was good pals to king Mickey, so much that he was the mouse's advisor...

"Wow, you're completely right Donald... I don't know know a lot about you, or Goofy!" His blue eyes then turned to the knight. "I barely even know about your nephews, Donald, or of the worlds you guys live in. I just know Toontown, but you've guys told me you don't live there."

Donald and Goofy looked to one another from either side of Sora, their eyes filled with sadness and happiness; sad to see their friend taking it hard that they truly connected outside from saving the world, and happy to see him so interested in it now. Sora's eyes then turned up to Jose and Panchito who looked back as they walked to him with a smile.

"Even you two have lives I don't know about! I would have never known Jose has nephews, or that you two even existed if it weren't for Donald." The young man's sad face twitched slightly into a smile, but then turned back down.

"Its okay, chico, we've only been together for a day barely! We'll have some bonding time after this is all over!" Panchito grinned as he always did, and like always Sora felt his heart swell.

"Sim! We'll keep in touch after this too!" Jose winked and smirked, making the human's heart become even happier.

"Right, of course guys! I'll definitely keep in touch after this all." He would make sure of it.

"Ze!" The moment was broken when the familiar cry of Nestor was heard. The five looked towards Ze house where the blackbird was, standing at the doorway with a shocked face.

"What happened?"

"Nothing we didn't take care of, amigo." The green-parrot looked to his friends with a knowing glint in his red eyes. "But where are the ninos? Are they safe?"

"Yea, I saw them run off to one their little friend's house, and before I could stop them, they were gone!" Nestor was now at the front gate, leaning over his elbows. Those kids were just as wild as their uncle.

"...They're safe…..thats all that matters." Jose leaned one hip against the fence, both hands balanced on his parasol's handle. The twins had good friends, they were in a good crowd, so it was okay to say everyone was safe now.

"Nestor I need you to do me a muito grande favor,"

"o que é?" The friend in question tilted his head ever so slightly and narrowed his eyes. Usually if someone did Ze a favor, it never ended well for the both of them, and from previous experiences, it was Nestor who got the most baddest of ends.

"I need you to watch over my nephews while i'm gone."

"Gone?! Where to?!"

"I'm going with these four on a job to do out of town, and I can't just leave the twins alone!"

"But, why so sudden?! You hate work! you ditched me just earlier with the clean up!" Nestor was shouting now, quite angry his friend had decided on something so suddenly, though the blackbird should have been used to it by now, but then to also abruptly ask him to watch the kids? that was irresponsible!

"Because, my friend! I'll get job experience when I get back, and my friends Donald and Panchito need me! Now how can I leave a friend in need?" Jose smirked, leaning one elbow on top of the fence and wriggling his brows. Nestor scowled and started to say words in Portuguese that no one wanted to know, but could guess were a series of swears.

"FINE! But when you get back you are applying with me to a bunch of job loads and are helping me!" The crow got close to his friend's face so he would hear better.

The parrot grimaced for a moment, thinking of all the work Nestor would make him do, and how laborious it would be. But…..his friends needed him, and the sudden surge of responsibility mixed with justice, was great motivation. Plus, if he didn't do this, those Nightmares would come back and do even greater harm to his home.

"Deal!" The two birds then slapped hands together in a strong handshake. Nestor then suddenly pulled in Jose close, and eyed him dangerously.

"I swear, I will remember this pact, and if you try to run out on me, I will join that organization against you."

Those words made Ze chuckle sheepishly, aware that he could not afford losing such a good a friend as Nestor, and that with what he knew about the green-parrot could be used to the organization's advantage. Now he HAD to make sure to get off his lazy butt and join his friend in job searching.

"What's this, 'Organization', Jose?" Panchito shouldered his fellow caballero, lifting his brows up in question.

"Nothing! Nothing!" The bird being inquired shook his hands side to side to push the matter away, but it was obvious my his nervous face it was something that had been bothering. He then leaned in close once more to his dark-friend and whispered madly, "Cale a boca! Eles não precisam saber sobre isso! Prometo ajudar! Jurei!"

Nestor rolled his eyes, pulling back away from the fence. "Vejo você mais tarde, Zé, Sora, Donal ', Pateta. Panch." He then walked up the path toward the front porch and entered the house.

The new group of five stood in front of the gate for a while longer, listening to Nestor open the windows, hum a tune, and make noise in the kitchen. Jose slid his gloved hand on his fence, saying a silent farewell to his home. He would be back soon, he knew this, but it still was hard, as always, to leave his home for a time. But as usual, he was off with his best friends Donald and Panchito, plus new additional companionship, and that was enough to make things feel better.

"So, you have a ship?" He smiled handsomely, letting one hand grab a cigar from his coat pocket, as the other twirled his parasol; the group began its trek back up the hill and to the alley where their Gummi ship was parked.

"Yea, it's a dream version of the real, but it's just as reliable." Donald walked along in the middle of of two good friends, feeling as though he were not on a dangerous adventure, but back at home and enjoying one of the many seasons where the two others came to visit for a time.

"Jose, you wouldn't believe what the chico had told me! He had flew his way to these worlds!" Panchito raised a hand and moved it straight in a line, trying to pantomime the ability to fly.

"Eh, is that right, moço?"

"Yeah, it was yesterday when I was on another journey." Sora earnestly smiled, sliding his hands into his pockets, rather than letting them collect sweat behind his hot hair.

"Two journeys in one day, a new record, a'hyuck!" Goofy raised up two fingers, encouraging the boy to take some pride in his hard work.

"_**Quite so, Sora, you are doing well. If you had not lost yourself in the Mark of Mastery exam, you would have been passed." **_Yen Sid's deep voice passed through the groups head, making them stop in their tracks; Jose had nearly screamed at the sudden intrusion, grabbing his head in fear.

"Aye! Please tell me I am not going louco!"

"_No, calm down, Joe. Everyone keep walking, we're looking suspicious." _Donald's voice then rang in everyone's head, his face frowning. His blue eyes shifted around the area, taking intel of the civilizations reactions - a few had gave them a funny glance when they stopped so suddenly, and many eyes were on them as Jose had yelled. Any attention the pedestrians gave them was very much unneeded, less the group meddled and got someone hurt.

"_**Be calm, Jose Carioca, I am Yen Sid, and teacher to you all." **_ Those words calmed the parrot down slightly, but of course the feeling of someone in his head unnerved and worried him. If this person could get into his head, it couldn't take much for him to control it, like in a comic book!

"_**Congratulations on your newest victory over the cloaked boy" **_

"_But master, who is the cloaked boy?" _Donald looked straight ahead, doing his best to walk normally though his mind was distracted.

"_**That will be revealed soon, but for now, prepare for your last battle. I will send in some new equipment for Panchito and Jose." **_

"_Yes, master" _The Keybearer, warrior and magician in unison nodded. The conversation via their minds was gone, and nothing but silence followed for a few moments.

"What is wrong with my weapons now? I took down that burro too!" Panchito frowned in confusion, placing both his palms on his gun hilts. The very pistols he wore around his waist were a coming of age gift from his father who used them to make the small fortune they had now. They pretty much invaluable and full of rich history.

"Yes, I agree, my umbrella is just as good as your weapons!" Jose pointed his weapon forward, closing one eye to focus on it's pointed tip. This parasol was quite lucky, he hardly ever used it while here in his hometown since it could easily be stolen if saw by the wrong people. The day he found it - well, more like stole by accident on his way out of a bar one rainy night- was pure fate! It fit perfectly within his palm, and after it came into his possession, a lot had changed, opening his eyes to show business and magic.

"Nothing's wrong with them, it's just that they're not exactly reinforced with the needed stuff to kick ass." Donald tried to calm down the two other birds, knowing how much they loved their signature items - like how he loved his hat. "We need to jam-pack'em with more magic, power, and fix up your wardrobe with some enhanced armor, like our's…..Well…." His blue eyes shifted between his and Goofy's civilian attire, and Sora's own purple clothing….Which weren't very civilian.

Sora spotted the duck eyeing their cloths, realizing how much he stood out amongst the other four. "Well, I'm wearing more enhanced armor than Donald and Goofy, mostly because I'm most targeted. But they can change quickly into their battling clothes since they're more in the know about that stuff than me….For now."

"Right, so we need to upgrade, yes? Fine, but Senor Martinez had better get some gear too." The rooster understood that he was but a young boy in the new world. He would have to take his elder's advice here, and in this case that was Goofy, Sora, Yen Sid, and Donald (though Donald was _always _his elder in most cases.

Jose went back to twirling his umbrella, letting his eyes fall on Sora as he took in his friend's words. "Okay then, as long as I can become stronger, I am….How you Americans say...Game?" And if he found good use of his new items, perhaps he could take advantage of them to help him keep a job without straining himself too much.

"Good, with that settled, I think this next alley is where we parked." Donald turned into a corner between two buildings neither Sora, Panchito or Goofy recognized.

"uh, Donald, I don't think this-" Before Goofy could finish, the duck ran out of the compact space, screaming. Right behind him was a group of those dog-people Sora knew as more local of people in these toon-worlds, all of them wearing sagging pants, bandannas and shouting angrily in Portuguese after the magician.

Jose sighed, rolling his eyes and head towards Panchito, who was laughing merrily at the comical site. "I've got him." The parrot pointed his parasol forward, opened it up, and walked off to help his friend.

Leave it to Donald to find trouble.


End file.
